Re:Why Jet Engines Aren't "Made in China"
by seanmcdirmid on Wednesday July 01, 2026 @10:20PM
(#48755654)
Cheap AND high performance. There is a reason Russian passenger jets are often engined with western jet turbines even though Russia makes their own.
Re:Why Jet Engines Aren't "Made in China"
by vkazanov on Thursday July 02, 2026 @01:36AM
(#48756950)
One more factor: Similar to how this works in semiconductors, some things are just too expensive to build without having an economy of scale.
Re:Why Jet Engines Aren't "Made in China"
by tptacek on Wednesday July 01, 2026 @09:55PM
(#48755504)
Does Russia do it at comparable yield at the same quality level? India can do single crystal turbine blades too, but at a small scale.
Re:Why Jet Engines Aren't "Made in China"
by Scramblejams on Thursday July 02, 2026 @02:06AM
(#48757161)
I doubt that very much. 20ish years ago I read about the Indians being very upset that the engines in the Sukhoi fighters they bought weren't even making it to the promised (very modest) 300 operating hours between overhauls. That's far less than Western engines routinely achieve. And with the hollowing out of the Russian industrial base that's occurred since then, I'd be surprised if it's gotten any better in the intervening years.
Re:Why Jet Engines Aren't "Made in China"
by elzbardico on Thursday July 02, 2026 @08:00AM
(#48760078)
Russia is a backwards mongol empire. This is the official narrative on HN, don't you dare suggesting otherwise.
Bollocks. Russia does that as well, single crystal turbine blades in particular so the west is not the sole gatekeeper here. Given the circumstances Russia might as well share the tech for some things in return