Russia, China Discuss Engine Development for Heavy-lift Chopper, Wide-body Jet

United Engine Corp. (UEC) of Russia and China’s Aviation Industries Corp. (AVIC) have opened talks to jointly build engines for the proposed Sino-Russian wide body aircraft and the heavy lift helicopter which the two countries are developing.

Rostec, the parent company of UEC said in a statement that the talks were held on the sidelines of the Aviation Expo China 2015 last week. A specific area of discussion included the use of composite materials to be applied to parts and components of the ‘promising” projects.

This is probably the first time that China and Russia are talking engine development for Greenfield products. In previous Chinese aviation project such like the JF-17, tried and tested Russian engines are used.

UEC showcased the RD-93 engine powering the Chinese fighter JF-17 and the AI-222-25 engine designed for the trainer aircraft Yak-130. “Going to the Chinese market with engines for training aircraft, including AI-222-25 is a new challenge for the holding company”, the statement noted implying that the Al-222-25 engine would find a place in a future Chinese fighter-trainer.

“Our existing turboshaft engines' maximum output power is about 1,000 kilowatts, not powerful enough to propel the heavy-lift helicopter. The Chinese engineers are developing a 5,000-kilowatt turboshaft engine that can be used by the aircraft in the future,” Wu Ximing, chief helicopter designer at Aviation Industry Corp of China said during the Chinese expo.

Russia's UAC and Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) have been considering the joint development of the wide bodied jet since May 2014. The wide-body airplane market currently is dominated by Boeing and Airbus.

The government [Russian] is ready to fund the initial stage of the project, which will focus on the design of a new twin-aisle plane, Deputy Industry Minister Andrey Boginsky said in an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month. The collaboration may later be expanded to include the development of an engine, he said.

China may need 1,500 wide body aircraft in the next two decades, according to Boeing estimates.

According to AVIC, the heavy lift helicopter will have a maximum takeoff weight of 38.2 metric tons and a maximum cruising speed of 300 km/h. It will be capable of flying at altitudes up to 5,700 meters and have a range of 630 km.

China will need at least 200 heavy-lift helicopters within the coming 30 years, and the international market's demand will reach about 2,000 in that time.