As we all know, many countries in the world can develop fighter jets, and some small countries also have the ability to develop fighter jets. For example, South Korea, Indonesia, Brazil, Japan and other countries can develop their own aircraft. However, only the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China can independently develop aircraft engines. It can be seen that this aircraft engine technology is more difficult, technical and risky, otherwise only five countries in the world can develop it. Speaking of aero engines, aero engines are known as the crown of the modern aviation industry and are a symbol of aviation power.
It is the core equipment of modern fighter jets. Its mass directly determines the aircraft's performance, such as speed, bomb load, fuel load, range, etc. Judging from the current situation of the world's aerospace engine industry, the United States is currently at the world's first-class level; Russia lags behind the United States. Let's compare the engines of the most advanced American and Russian fighter jets.
The United States now has two fifth-generation aircraft, one is an F-22 fighter jet and the other is an F-35 fighter jet. F-22 fighter jets are equipped with F-119-PW-100 engines. This engine was established in the 1980s. The engine's thrust-to-weight ratio exceeds 10, and its maximum thrust is approximately 15.9 tons. In addition, the engine uses vector nozzles with a longitudinal deflection of 40 degrees. It is reported that the engine life has reached more than 8,000 hours.
Another U.S. F-35 fighter jet is equipped with the F-135 engine, which adds a low-pressure power turbine to the F-119 engine and expands the diameter of the external duct fan. The thrust of the engine has reached about 20 tons, and the thrust-to-weight ratio exceeds 10. Since the thrust of the engine is much greater than that of the F-119-PW-100 engine, its service life is also very long. reduce. According to some sources, this is approximately 7,000 hours.
Russia’s most advanced engines are the Product-30 and AL-41F1-117S engines. In contrast, the Su-35 fighter jet uses the Russian AL-41F1-117S engine. The Su-35 equipped with this engine is second only to the F22 in terms of overall maneuverability. According to reports, the AL-41F1-117S engine is an improvement on the famous AL-31F engine. Its maximum afterburning thrust is 14.5 tons and has vector thrust performance. The service life of the engine is more than 3000 hours, about 4000 hours. The real competition with the American Aerospace Development Corporation depends on Russia's leading product, the Product-30 engine.
This engine is developed and improved on the basis of the AL-41F engine (increased thrust). The thrust-to-weight ratio exceeds 10 and the maximum thrust is about 18 tons. It is a three-dimensional vector tail nozzle that can achieve 360-degree omnidirectional control. The engine life is reportedly around 5,000 hours.
Judging from the engines equipped with fighter jets from the United States and Russia, the lifespan of the Russian product-30 engine lags far behind that of the American F-119-PW-100 engine. In addition, the product-30 engine is still under testing. It has not yet been officially delivered and is at least 20 years behind the US. As a result, the United States ranks among the world's leading aircraft engines, far ahead of Russia.