In the 1990s, China introduced the D-30KP-2 engine along with the Russian Il-76 large transport aircraft. Due to the lack of available engines for large-scale aerial platforms in China, the H-6K, H-6K and H-6K were developed after entering the new century. The H-6N bomber and the Yun-20 large transport aircraft also use this type of engine as power. Since the 1990s, China has imported hundreds of D-30KP-2 engines from Russia. It has established an overhaul line and a complete guarantee system. It also has the ability to improve this type of engine. The D-30KP-2 engine is an indispensable power system for the large-scale aerial platform of the Chinese Air Force.
With the mass production of the H-6 improved bomber and the successful development of the Yun-20 large transport aircraft, the introduction of engines alone will certainly not be able to meet the large number of installed requirements. Therefore, at the same time as the introduction, China has also started the D-30KP-2 engine. The localization task of the localization is undertaken by Chengfa 420 Factory, which has the ability to overhaul and refit the D-30 engine. The localized model is turbofan-18 (WS-18). On October 29, 2014, the WS-18 engine developed by AVIC Chengfa Group successfully flew on the Il-76 flight test platform. It has been 5 years since the first flight of the
WS-18 engine has been successful. On March 6, 2020, that is, yesterday, the official website of China Aviation Technology Aviation Technology released a report of Chengfa Group (420 Factory) "Sixty-day decisive battle" report According to the news, the “life engineering” undertaken by the 420 plant should be a certain type of engine. This type of engine entered an important stage of batch production and delivery from November 4 last year. It is analyzed from the history of Chengfa 420 plant. It is not difficult to see that the engine called "Life Engineering" is the domestically produced model WS-18 of the D-30KP-2 engine, because before the WS-18 project, Chengfa’s main products were turbojet engines. And it has long been discontinued.
This news indicates that the WS-18 engine finally ushered in mass production and delivery 5 years after its first flight. As a copy of the Russian-made D-30KP-2 engine, the WS-18 is a relatively backward model of the Russian-made D-30KP-2 engine. The significance is still very important, which means that China’s large-scale air platforms such as the Yun-20 large transport aircraft and the H-6 series bombers will be equipped with domestic power in the future and get rid of the dependence on imported engines.
In terms of Yun-20, although China is developing the turbofan-20 (WS-20) large duct based on the core engine of the turbofan-10 engine, its performance is more advanced than the turbofan engine, but the development of WS-20 The progress is relatively slow. At present, the large-scale transport aircraft of China’s Air Force Yun-20 and the tankers developed from the Yun-20 have a large gap. Currently, only the D-30KP-2 engine can be used as an over-model. -20 will use 4 D-30KP-2 engines, which means increasing the number of engines imported from Russia. Even if only 100 Y-20s are produced and equipped in the next few years, at least more than 400 D-30KP-2 engines will be imported. The number of -30KP-2 engines is close to the total number of imported D-30 engines in China over the past 20 years. Therefore, having a WS-18 engine that can be independently produced is of great significance to Yun-20.
In addition to the Yun-20, the H-6 series bombers will also be the main target of the WS-18 engine in the future. The H-6 series bombers will be replaced with D-30KP-2 engines from the H-6K, making the H-6K on board. The ammunition and range have been greatly improved, which greatly extended the combat range of the People’s Air Force long-range aviation force, and also enabled the H-6, an old platform from the 1960s, to reintegrate into the informationization of the 21st century. battlefield. After more than one hundred H-6Ks were produced, the H-6 family ushered in a new model H-6N. This model basically follows the overall design of the H-6K, and the power system is the same. The difference is that the H-6N is newly added. The ability to receive fuel in the air has been improved, and the combat radius has been further increased. The belly has the ability to mount new types of weapons, including multiple types of air-launched ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, reaching the threshold of a strategic bomber. The
bomber of the H-6 series is currently the only strike platform for the long-range aviation force of the Chinese Air Force. It is a new generation of long-range bombers with stealth capabilities.Before it is successfully developed, its latest model H-6N should still be produced in very large quantities. A H-6N needs to be equipped with two D-30KP-2 engines, and because H-6 engines are installed on both sides of the fuselage In the nacelle, it is basically impossible to replace the larger and more advanced WS-20 engine without changing the aerodynamic layout in the future. It can only be equipped with the Russian-made D-30KP-2 or the localized WS- 18. This means that even after the successful development of the WS-20, the H-6 series bombers still have a great equipment demand for the WS-18 engine.
Overall, the D-30KP-2 engine, which has a relatively backward overall technology level, will still have a very large installation demand for a long time in the future, so the mass production delivery of its localized model WS-18 can solve the problem for a long time in the future. The power issue of the large-scale military aerial platform in China is of great significance.
