The WS-13 (Chinese: 涡扇-13), codename Taishan, is a turbofan engine designed and manufactured by Guizhou Aircraft Industry Corporation to power the Pakistan-China jointly developed JF-17 Thunder light-weight multi-role fighter, and in the near future the Shenyang J-31 fifth generation stealth fighter currently under development.
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Design and development
China began development of the Taishan in 2000 to replace the Klimov RD-93 turbofan, which had been selected in the 1990s to power the JF-17 light-weight fighter. It is designed to have a life span of 2,200 hours and an improved version, providing around 100 kN (22,450 lb) of thrust with afterburner, is under development.
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 FC-1 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 development aircraft is flying with a Chinese engine, which is most likely to be the WS-13.
In November 2012, Aviation Week reported that a JF-17 Thunder was flying in China with the Guizhou WS-13 engine.
According to Janes Weekly. New JF-17 fighters are now flying with WS-13 engine and even attended the prestigious Paris air show.