China Tests Stealth Fighter Engine in Tibet

China recently tested what is believed to be the WS-10 (Taihang) and WS-15 (Emei) engines which the carrier-borne aircraft J-15 and the stealth fighter J-20 are likely to be equipped it.

Test Flight Center of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) successfully completed the first  takeoff-and-landing test flight of the fighter planes recently on the plateau in Qinghai province, the Voice of China reported. This test flight is the first high altitude test for two types of engines in installed status.

During the test flight, the test flight team overcame adverse factors such as high altitude anoxia and strong ultraviolet irradiation, avoided the impact of thin air, low pressure and small inlet flow on the engines, and successfully completed such tests as the power start tests on the plane and ground, the “cold” and “hot” starts and continuous starts of the engines, the acceleration and deceleration performance, and the performance quality inspection of afterburner, according to the report.

With the plane's successful return, the one-month-long mission of the first takeoff-and-landing test flight of domestic fighter planes on the plateau has come to a successful conclusion. There will be more planes flying safely on the snow-covered plateau in the future.