And also based on the wording, I don't think we can expect the WS-15 any time soon. 'Made major strides' means it ain't ready yet. However, the video itself conveys confidence that the worst is over.
Chinese Engine Development
- Thread starter jackbh
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And also based on the wording, I don't think we can expect the WS-15 any time soon. 'Made major strides' means it ain't ready yet. However, the video itself conveys confidence that the worst is over.
Sorry for the delayed reply, but "medium weight fighter" would mean a new single engined fighter?! I really don't see a WS-15 powered J-10X!
Maybe it's that satellite image of a singled-engine airframe we saw some months ago
It's not unreasonable to describe the potential uses of WS-15 as being applicable to "medium weight" and "heavy weight" fighters both.
That does not mean a medium weight fighter using WS-15 is under development.
The audio is very clear: "4th generation heavy and medium weight combat aircrafts", not just "4th generation combat aircrafts" or even simpler "future combat aircrafts". The plane in the video is a J-20 which we can all agree is 'heavy' so how different or 'medium' can a plane with two WS-15s be? WS-15 has always been referred as a 'high' thrust engine. Of course a twin 'medium' thrust engined plane fits 'medium' better and J-10C is just a 'light' weight but if we must interpret the words, a highly modified/uprated J-10E(S)E is reasonable (if J-10D prototype is already built). J-10 itself is 3rd generation so a new designation like J-2X is needed. Since video is also very specific about '4th generation', the project, if it exists, is a near-term one. As I suggested in an earlier posting, it makes marketing sense for AVIC to have a cheaper (i.e. single-engined) but semi-stealth multi-role (so maybe 'S') export fighter to compete with the twin-engined Korean or Turkish offerings in the late 2020's. I am not suggesting PLAAF will buy the plane but countries with Gripens or JF-17s today may. A poor man's J-20S? Maybe a future joint program with Pakistan? Just wild speculations for the fun of it. By the time I am proven wrong, BABA and DIDI will have been delisted already.
I suspect that's just a story made by some illiterate journalists and editors of CCTV.
It's not a story. Literally no one claimed that the engine will be used in a medium-weight aircraft. The segment only said that WS-15 was developed with heavy and medium-weight combat aircraft in mind.
Maybe listen to the audio before jumping to conclusions?
CCTV is state-owned so I don't think they will hire illiterate journalists.
The comments are made vaguely, it left too much room for interpretation.