The WS-13 (涡扇-13), codename Taishan, is a turbofan engine designed and manufactured by Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation to power the CAC/PAC JF-17 Thunder lightweight multirole fighter jointly developed by China and Pakistan, and in the near future the Shenyang FC-31 fifth-generation stealth fighter currently under development.

Design and development

China began development of the Taishan in 2000 to create a domestic engine for replacing the Klimov RD-93 turbofan, which had been selected in the 1990s to power the JF-17 lightweight fighter. It is designed to produce 86 kN (19,000 lb) of thrust with afterburner and have a life span of 2,200 hours; an improved version providing up to 93 kN (21,000 lb) of thrust with afterburner was also developed. The WS-13 Taishan was certified in 2007 and serial production began in 2009. The 18 March 2010 edition of the HKB Report stated that a JF-17 equipped with the WS-13 completed its first successful runway taxi test. Officials at the Farnborough International Airshow in August 2010 stated that a JF-17 was being test flown with a Chinese engine, likely the WS-13. In November 2012, Aviation Week & Space Technology reported that flight testing on the JF-17 was underway in China. It was reported at the 2015 Paris Air Show that testing was continuing. Guizhou is developing a new engine, designated the WS-19 that fits in the same footprint as the WS-13 but is a wholly new design that incorporates the same technology as the Xian WS-15. The WS-19 is the intended engine for production versions of the Shenyang FC-31 medium-size stealth fighter such as the J-35 for aircraft carriers.

Variants

Applications

Specifications (WS-13)