Chinese J-20 Stealth Fighter Needs More Powerful Engines

China needs to work on more powerful engines for its fifth generation fighter aircraft, J-20 similar to that of Pratt and Whitney’s F135 engine for F-35.

China recently made a deal to buy two-dozen advanced Sukhoi Su-35S Flanker-E fighters from Russia, which have a pair of powerful NPO Saturn AL-41F1S afterburning turbofans. China might want to take some of the technology from the AL-41F1S to advance its own engine development, although the new Russian engine—which is an upgraded development of the earlier AL-31F—has yet to prove to be satisfactory for Moscow’s own PAK-FA development, Sputnik news daily reported Wednesday.

According to the Chinese, the J-20 will become the first full-fledged Chinese fifth-generation fighter but any concrete information about the new warplane’s systems is scarce.

The Xinhua news agency notes that the J-20 won’t be able to reach its full potential until China develops engines with a thrust-to-weight ratio of ten-to-one.