China Equips J-15 Fighter Jets With Domestic Engines Replacing Russian Made - Reports

Chinese fighter jets J-15 will now be equipped with China-produced engines replacing the Russian ones due to their better performance in terms of safety and reliability, media reported on Thursday

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2022) Chinese fighter jets J-15 will now be equipped with China-produced engines replacing the Russian ones due to their better performance in terms of safety and reliability, media reported on Thursday.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), a footage of a J-15 fighter jet, also known as FLying Shark, parked in the hangar showed it was equipped with WS-10 engines instead of Russian AL-31Fs, which were previously used by the Chinese military.

SCMP said, citing military analysts, that new Chinese engines had proven to be more reliable and safe than the Russian ones, whose service life was "relatively short.

"

J-15, the only carrier-based fighter in the Chinese military, is a prototype of the Russian Su-33. The first test flight of J-15 was conducted in 2009.

This type of jets remained the last one among China's fighters of the fourth generation equipped with an imported engine, as WS-10s was already deployed on a number of planes including the J-10, J-11, J-16 and J-20 fighter jets.