Chinese Trainer Aircraft (JL-8, JL-9, JL-10 (L-15), etc.)

by78 said:

Does anyone have access to the video? It appears to mention L15/JL-10s are being re-engined with, presumably the indigenous WS-17s.

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Are we sure this is talking about WS-17, as opposed to talking about one of the past engine changes they did; i.e.: Al-222-25 between the nonAB and AB variants?

It would surprise me if WS-17 was already flight testing on JL-10 given we didn't seem to have heard any news about it for ages.

Blitzo said:

Are we sure this is talking about WS-17, as opposed to talking about one of the past engine changes they did; i.e.: Al-222-25 between the nonAB and AB variants?

It would surprise me if WS-17 was already flight testing on JL-10 given we didn't seem to have heard any news about it for ages.

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How will they handle the UAE exports when Motorsich is gone with no domestic engine? Will they have to take from existing PLAAF stock?

Salyut makes Al-222-25 engines.

siegecrossbow said:

How will they handle the UAE exports when Motorsich is gone with no domestic engine? Will they have to take from existing PLAAF stock?

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Sure, why not. We don't know how many Al-222s they have remaining in overall AVIC possession, it's absolutely possible that some are earmarked for export.
Russia is also either able to, or aiming to produce Al-222s as well.


But let's not get lost in the weeds here. My overall point is that "engine milestone reached" is generally something we've held a high standard of proof for, and in this case the idea of WS-17 being ready or being tested on JL-10 is only coming from that CCTV documentary clip, which in theory could be talking about a past Al-222 engine upgrade or test.

In addition, the lack of meaningful credible rumours of WS-17 being ready for JL-10, makes me think we should be cautious and not assume they are talking about WS-17 here, and instead abide to usual engine related thresholds for evidence.

It's not "aiming to". Russia produces them at Salyut. How do you think they made the Yak-130s for delivery to Iran and Myanmar?
The Russians are also developing a replacement for the Al-222-25. Called the SM-100 it is supposed to have 20% more thrust and double the lifetime.

gelgoog said:

It's not "aiming to". Russia produces them at Salyut. How do you think they made the Yak-130s for delivery to Iran and Myanmar?

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I don't keep particularly close track of Russia's Yak-130 deliveries or progress, so by saying "aiming to" I am able to indicate that I am not closely aware of the details or their progress.

For the purposes of this discussion, it doesn't matter to me whether Russia is producing Al-222s or not. The important part is that there are no current indicators that the CCTV documentary can only refer to WS-17.

Blitzo said:

I don't keep particularly close track of Russia's Yak-130 deliveries or progress, so by saying "aiming to" I am able to indicate that I am not closely aware of the details or their progress.

For the purposes of this discussion, it doesn't matter to me whether Russia is producing Al-222s or not. The important part is that there are no current indicators that the CCTV documentary can only refer to WS-17.

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Indeed. Based on this article from Yankee in 2022 they “recently” restarted investigation into domestic engine development for L-15. I don’t think it could be solved within just a couple of years.

According to this guy it is a domestic engine. Just don't know how crediable he is...

The next step towards a true carrier-borne force is a dedicated carrier-capable jet trainer and even if we have hints since some time, we still lack clear evidence of a prototype being built … here another hint: An image of a model of the JL-10J.

(Image courtesy of metalp38 at Huitong‘s CMA-Blog)

Deino said:

The next step towards a true carrier-borne force is a dedicated carrier-capable jet trainer and even if we have hints since some time, we still lack clear evidence of a prototype being built … here another hint: An image of a model of the JL-10J.

(Image courtesy of metalp38 at Huitong‘s CMA-Blog)

View attachment 126599

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Looks incredibly sophisticated!

But... what is that stench?

The smell of reddit's finest calling this a copy / stolen / reverse engineered aircraft.