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Why Jet Engines Aren't "Made in China"

28 points by paulpauper ago | 7 comments

ivell |next [-]

This is a strange article. I did not find anything that is a blocker for China. China is a relative new comer to jet engines and this technology is tightly guarded by incumbents and needs time to mature.

If China can master nuclear, space, chips, it seems a bit stretch to say they it is the Jer engines where they fail.

dmitrygr |root |parent [-]

Material sciences needed for modern jet engine blades are a closely guarded secret, and thanks to not manufacturing them in china, those secrets have managed to remain not stolen.

Fun story: it is not just jet engines - it is only recently that china was able to actually make indigenous ballpoint pens https://www.bbc.com/news/business-38566114

ivell |root |parent |next [-]

Seems they have figured out the single crystal blade tech https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/china-crystal-...

didntknowyou |root |parent |next |previous [-]

recently? and you posted an almost 10yo article?

dmitrygr |root |parent [-]

yes, compared to the length of time ballpoint pens have existed (88 years -- since 1938), this is very recent - only 9 years ago

dzhiurgis |root |parent |previous [-]

Can Chinese companies order just the blades from RR or P&W?

I've watched their manufacturing video recently and shocked how much of it was hand labour - it's not something I'd associate with precision. My partner said they must know better tho lol.

hbd-investor |previous [-]

This is nonsense

I recognized it immediately when it claimed the J-20 only supercruises at 1.3 mach

Anyone with a engineering degree understands that fighter jets carry a significant amount of fuel.

The J-20 in particular carries 26,000 lbs of fuel while the F-22 carries 18,000 lbs of fuel

Now here is where the disinformation comes in he cites the

F-22 as mach 1.8 supercruise J-20 as mach 1.3 supercruise

But the actual numbers are

F-22 is mach 1.5 at full fuel load

F-22 is mach 1.82 only when it is nearly empty

The J-20 is mach 1.3 at full fuel load

mach 1.8 only when it is nearly empty

Choosing the J-20 number at full fuel load, and choosing the F-22 supercruise speed when it is nearly empty is deliberate disinformation.

Your substack has lost all credibility.