What is the power system of China J-13 fighter?

The main limiting factor of J-13 fighter is its engine. At first, J-13 planned to use domestic turbofan -9 with British Spey MK.202 turbofan engine, but because the thrust could not meet the needs, it switched to turbofan -6 engine with thrust of 12200 kg. Shortly after MIG -23 was introduced from abroad, it was decided to modify the P-29 used in MIG -23. The domestic turbojet engine is also called turbojet-15. But it was not put into practice later.

Due to the success of the engine, the American F- 16 later became a successful and excellent NATO fighter. As a newly developed fighter, J-13 has excellent aerodynamic shape design. Not only was it not mass-produced, but it died before the prototype was made, which was quite embarrassing.

China's fighters are basically controlled by engines. Almost every fighter plane has to say that it is the tragedy of the engine.

In this respect, the aviation industry in the United States is compared with that in China. To put it simply, the United States has engines before airplanes, and China has airplanes before engines.

On the surface, although China's system seems to be suitable for equipping aircraft with the most suitable engine. But in practice, we can see that J-13 decided to adopt imitation Spee from the beginning. Indeed, Spee MK.202 military engine has the advantages of large afterburner ratio, low fuel consumption, long service life, large compressor surge margin, high efficiency, reliable operation in various working conditions, etc., and is equipped with an exhaust system to control flaps, which can improve the take-off and landing performance of aircraft.

However, as commented by the west, it was a product in the late 1960s, with complex structure, low thrust-to-weight ratio and poor high-altitude performance. At that time, this model could only be a good engine imported from China. In today's world, who will really help China realize modernization?

Spee's China model is turbofan -9, which will be produced in Xi 'an Engine Factory. The country spent hundreds of millions of pounds to introduce this machine and attached great importance to it. Wang Zhen, Vice Premier of the State Council, visited Xi 'an factory three times and was concerned about the trial production of products. Mo Wenxiang, vice minister of aviation, led a team to wait at the scene, and many factories, research institutes and universities in Shaanxi cooperated with each other. In addition to using imported raw materials, the state also specially arranges domestic production of metallic materials, nonmetallic materials, finished parts and large forgings.

During the period of 1976, the trial production of Xi 'an Factory was in full swing. The technical data of finishing machine reached 420,000, and the technical equipment drawings reached 30,000. Fortunately, it happened to smash the Gang of Four, and it took only three years to install four turbofan -9 engines. 1979 engine bench test was successful. 1980, the engine was successfully tested under complex working conditions in Britain and passed the cyclic fatigue strength test. Representatives of China and Britain signed the successful review document of turbofan -9 engine, and China's Spee engine was finally born.

However, with only 9300 kg afterburner thrust, Spey can't drive the huge fuselage of J-13 with a single thrust. The weight of F- 16 is smaller than that of J-13, but the afterburning thrust of the engine used is as high as 12400 kg. So I decided to change the turbofan -6 myself.

But after the successful introduction of MIG-23, I took a fancy to the P-29 used in MIG-23. However, on the basis of China at that time, without any experience and guidance, how could it be done? Moreover, even if it is successful, the P-29 is still an engine with a low thrust-to-weight ratio.

On the other hand, before the F- 16 was developed in the United States, the air superiority fighters of the air force and navy planned to greatly increase the thrust-to-weight ratio of the engine and improve the matching between the inlet and the engine. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Defense decided to use a core engine to develop two kinds of engines, which are required to meet the requirements of both the Air Force and the Navy.

Pratt & Whitney, based on JTF-22 core engine, bids to develop two engines for the US Air Force and Navy. Soon after, the world's earliest engine with a thrust-to-weight ratio of more than 8, F- 100, came out, and the thrust-to-weight ratio of F- 16 was more than 1, making it the first practical high-mobility fighter in the world that can climb vertically.