Images have emerged on Chinese online forums showing a Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAIG) J-20 fifth-generation multi-role fighter aircraft equipped with new engines reported defence related website Janes.

The photographs, which emerged in late October, show a J-20 painted in yellow primer both in the air and on the ground at Chengdu-Huangtianba airfield, the location of the CAIG manufacturing facility.

The new engine, the exact designation of which has not been disclosed, appears to be a variant of the indigenous Liming WS10A Taihang engine and features serrated afterburner nozzles to enhance its stealth capability.

This engine variant was first tested on J-20 prototype number ‘2021’ on 19 September 2017 and then on prototype ‘2022’ in January 2018, after which the aircraft were transferred to the China Flight Testing Establishment at Xian-Yanliang airbase.

The WS-10 Taihang engine has impressed some military experts at the Zhuhai air show

The South China Morning Post reported in November 2018 that a purpose-built engine for China’s new generation stealth fighter jet has not gone on display at the Zuhai airshow after it failed reliability tests, according to military insiders.

It was widely expected that the performance of the WS-15 Emei engine for the J-20 fighter, known as the Powerful Dragon, would be one of the highlights of the six-day air show in Zhuhai in the southern province of Guangdong, but there was no sign of it when the show opened on Tuesday. Insiders said the WS-15 engine, which has been in development for several years, failed to meet overall reliability targets in long-standing trial runs over the course of hundreds of hours.

“The performance of the engine is still very unstable, and engineers have failed to find the key reason for the problems, even though its vector power is good enough now,” a military insider said.

Insiders said the WS-15 engine, which has been in development for several years, failed to meet overall reliability targets in long-standing trial runs over the course of hundreds of hours.

The WS-15, which has single crystal turbine blades, was expected to be ready for mass production by the end of the year ahead of the opening of fourth production line for the Chengdu Aerospace Corporation, the maker of the J-20.

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