Hello defence lovers! In the last part of our article “Understanding Chinese Aviation Industry”, we discussed how China got the aircraft technology from the Soviet Union during the cold war’s initial days. Later it reverse-engineered and experimented with those designs to manufacture its own aircraft. In this article, we are going to look at China’s attempts to develop jet engines for its fighter jets. Then we will know the story of its Flanker fleet, which is the backbone of its airforce today. We will also learn about China’s various unethical ways of obtaining Western technologies.
Also Read, Understanding The Chinese Aviation Industry (Part 1)
Developing Jet Engines
After the second world war had ended, soviet engineers studied the German jet engines which were of superior design but limited by the material used due to a shortage of resources. Copies of Junkers 004 and BMW 003 jet engines were made by the Soviet Union. In 1946, before the cold war had actually begun, the British gifted some Rolls Royce Nene Turbojets engines to the Soviet Union as a goodwill gesture. However Soviet engineers copied the engine and developed their own version which they called Klimov VK-1. Soon these engines ended up in Chinese hands and were manufactured under license by the Chinese aviation industry.
Also Read, Chinese Aircraft Engines Are Actually “Chinese”
When China acquired the latest soviet models, the license to manufacture their jet engines was given to them. However, China kept on trying to develop indigenous and enhanced versions of those engines. In the 1980s the Chinese imported Rolls-Royce Spey engines for their F-4 Phantom-inspired fighter-bomber called Xian-JH 7. Chinese Aviation industry learned a lot from studying these British engines. Before the Arms Embargo following the Tiananmen Square massacre was imposed on China, it successfully imported two French CFM 56 commercial turbofan engines which were based on GE f101 engines. The CFM 56 was reverse engineered to develop an alternative to the Russian AL-31F engines. This development lasted decades. Today China’s jet engine technology is mature enough to power its copied Flankers. WS-10A engines power most of the J-11B, J-15, and J-16. They are also developing WS-20 a high thrust variant to operationalize its J-20 fleet fully.
The Flanker Story
Now let us discuss how PLAAF got its current backbone, the Flanker fleet. In 1996 China and Russia signed a deal to domestically manufacture Sukhoi Su-27s in China from Russian kits. Initially, 200 aircraft were planned. These aircraft were named J-11. However, Russia ended the cooperation in 2004, as China developed a cheap copy called J-11B with Chinese subsystems instead of Russian systems. But J-11B still used Russian Saturn engines as the WS-10 engine was not mature enough.
Russia in spite of knowing that China will copy its technology, sold a few Su-30 to China. Weapon sales were a crucial part of the Russian economy back then. Soon the Chinese developed J-16 out of Su-30. The Chinese also somehow developed copies of carrier-capable Su-33, even though those aircraft were never sold to them. Today the Flankers and the Flanker copies consist of the majority of the modern fighter jet fleet of the PLAAF.
IAI Lavi Story
From the 1970s onwards, Israel and USA were jointly developing a single-engine fighter to replace Israel’s older fighters. This fighter was called Lavi. During its development, three technology demonstrators were built. However, looking at the enormous cost of development, the Israeli government preferred to import f-16s which were of a similar category.
Israel had a history of selling its technology to China, as it didn’t see China as a direct threat. In 1983, Israel sold 3000 python-3 missiles to China. Soon the Chinese came up with their own version called PL-8. Similarly, after the Lavi program was cancelled, allegedly Israel sold the designs to China. This was a clever way of recovering the developmental cost of Lavi. However, both China and Israel deny this allegation. Visually and structurally the Chinese J-10 exactly resembles the IAI Lavi.
Also Read, PAF & PLA-AF Are Buying More J-10,J-17 & J-16. Why?
The Art Of Cyber Espionage & Hacking
Now let us discuss the crucial aspect of the success of the Chinese aviation industry, the art of cyber espionage. Over the last couple of decades with the rise in technological advancements, China has raised an army of expert hackers. The job of these hackers is to steal crucial data of military hardware from western countries, and use that data to develop a version of their own. Through this state-sponsored cyber espionage, China has stolen the intellectual property of many leading aerospace manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing, the Airbus consortium, and countless other companies. Let us discuss a few prominent examples.
Eurocopter Panther
The Chinese Airforce operates a large number of copies of Eurocopter Panther which they call Harbin Z-9. They have even developed an attack version of the platform by incorporating inspiration from Japanise Kawasaki OH-1. This attack version is called Harbin Z-19.
Eurocopter Tiger
Eurocopter is one of the major victims of Chinese cyber espionage. Chinese hackers have stolen the data of Eurocopter Tiger, one of the most advanced attack helicopters in the world. The Chinese aviation industry came up with their own version of Tiger which they call CAIC Z-10.
C-17 Globe master
Between 2006 and 2010. in a series of Cyberattacks, China-based hackers were successful in stealing the critical design data of the C-17 Globemaster from Boeing’s computers. Note that McDonnell Douglas originally developed the C-17 but later merged with Boeing. They not only stole the design and structural data but also stole flight testing data. In a very short time, they developed the Xian Y-20. The Xian Y-20 visually exactly resembles C-17.
Apart from these examples, there are countless other examples such as the UH 60 Black hawk, Little bird, B2 stealth bomber, and so on. We can just keep on naming but the list won’t just end.
Also Read, Chinese H6 Bombers: Threat or Not?
UAVs
The Chinese have also copied all successful UAVs and UCAVs. They copied predator and reaper to develop their own Chengdu Pterodactyl I and Chengdu Pterodactyl II. They have also copied the American HALE UAVs like the RQ-4 Global hawk. They call their own version Cloud Shadow. However, the recent sale or rather donation exposed the quality of these drones which are nowhere close to the capabilities of their American counterparts.
Mikoyan Project 1.44 – the origin of J -20?
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Russians were in a serious cash crunch. For their fifth-generation fighter program, there were two proposals: the PAK FA from Sukhoi and the Mig-1.44 project from Mikoyan. Due to lack of funds the Russians only pursued the Sukhoi PAK FA, which is known as Su-57 today. Some experts believe that Russia sold its Mig 1.44 design to China after the program was canceled. Allegedly, the Chinese aviation industry derived the basic airframe design of the J-20 from the 1.44 designs. However, Chinese hackers complimented the design process by stealing critical technology of American fight generation fighters f-22 and f-35. The most visible stolen technology of F-22 on J-20 is the canopy design.
Conclusion
We saw how the Chinese Aviation industry evolved from a kit assembler of Mig-15 to an industry capable of stealing the most advanced fighter jet technology around the globe and producing their own versions. Though most of the aircraft in the PLAAF fleet are copies of some well-known aircraft, the Chinese have nearly mastered the art of copying and reverse engineering. The copies might not be as capable as their original counterparts, but their capabilities must not be underestimated. Domestic manufacturing right from the early days helped in the development of the ecosystem where any design can be studied, reverse engineered, manufactured, and can even be enhanced to exceed the capabilities of the original version.
