China’s J-10C Fighter jet with Domestic WS-10 Taihang Engine Enters Air Force Service

China’s J-10C Fighter jet with Domestic WS-10 Taihang Engine Enters Air Force Service

China’s J-10C fighter aircraft with indigenous WS-10 Taihang engines have entered operational service with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).

Images released by China National TV from a PLAAF live shooting exercise at an unspecified location show J-10C ‘Vigorous Dragons’ with distinctive WS-10B Taihang turbofan engine exhaust nozzles, marking the first time that the WS-10 has been officially seen in an operational J-10.

The presence of the WS-10 Taihang in an operational J-10C fighter jet is indicative that the engine now is now “technically stable, reliable and mature,” local media reported citing military experts.

Some J-11B and J-16 fighter jets have been using WS-10 engines for a while now in twin engine configuration. But using the engine in the J-10, a single engine aircraft, indicates that the WS-10 engine has become very reliable.

The J-10C is an aircraft that has been produced in large batches. So if it is now using the Taihang engine, it could be an indication that this version has also been delivered to the PLA in numbers, Wang Ya’nan, chief editor of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Thursday.