China has a long history of copying weapons from Russia thats why nobody else sells them anything ...remember the israeli phalcon was denied to china ...now c'mmon India aint that stupid ....If it can reach the moon it can surely reverse engineer
care to explain this? and why is Airbus making their jet liner in Tianjing instead of India?
Franco-US engine to power new China aircraft
By Peggy Hollinger in Paris
Published: December 21 2009 20:42 | Last updated: December 21 2009 20:42
China has chosen a new-generation Franco-American engine to power its first narrow-body aircraft, which is due to fly in 2016 and aims to challenge the single-aisle workhorses of Boeing and Airbus.
The CFM joint venture between Safran of France and General Electric of the US on Monday scored a coup against rival US engine maker Pratt & Whitney after the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) chose its new technology Leap-X engine for the country’s first mid-size commercial jetliner, the C919.
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The contract to power the 150-seater aircraft will initially be worth $10bn to the joint venture and could potentially be worth as much as $30bn over 30 years, once all maintenance and service is included, according to Jean-Paul Herteman, Safran chief executive. For the first time in the history of the CFM partnership, the contract goes beyond the engine and includes the entire propulsion system.
Comac estimates the market for its C919 at 2,000 aircraft over 20 years, and with CFM as sole engine supplier the partnership was now well placed in the promising Chinese market, said Clara Gaymard, head of GE France.
However, Mr Herteman admitted that the Leap-X programme would demand heavy investment, with previous engines costing more than $1bn to develop. CFM has also had to agree to set up an assembly plant for the engine in China, which Mr Herteman said was “industrially logical”.
The Safran boss denied that the partnership had been compelled to agree significant transfers of technology to win the hotly contested tender. The assembly plant was “the only transfer of technology linked to this contract”, he said.
Comac hopes with the C919 to break into one of the world’s most lucrative aircraft segments by offering a technologically more advanced product in the mid-sized range than Boeing with its 737 or Airbus with the A320. Neither Boeing nor Airbus has yet announced plans to renew these ranges – with both aircraft makers suggesting there is no rush to launch for several years.
Analysts suggested that the decision to opt for a foreign engine maker – and CFM in particular – signalled China’s determination to produce an aircraft that could be exported when it finally takes to the air. CFM already boasts 75 per cent of the world market for mid-sized single- aisle aircraft. The Leap-X was an updated version of its popular CFM56 model, said Andy Chambers, aerospace analyst at MF Global. “Clearly taking that engine type is low risk for the Chinese,” he said.
The Leap-X is expected to be up to 15 per cent more fuel efficient than current engine technology. But Mr Chambers said both Airbus and Boeing continued to improve their mid-sized ranges at such a pace that the C919 was unlikely to enjoy such a big advantage over the 737 and A320 by the time it came to market.
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...now c'mmon India aint that stupid ....If it can reach the moon it can surely reverse engineer
