In fact, the J-10 fighter has experienced several twists and turns in the selection and configuration of the power system. In 1984, the J-10 fighter development project codenamed "Project 10" was officially launched, and the duck static and unstable layout was initially determined as the final design scheme. However, it is followed by the selection of an advanced jet engine for the J-10 fighter. At that time, the jet engines for various types of fighters existing and under development in China, from turbojet 7, turbojet 13 imitating Soviet engines to imitation turbofan 9 and self-developed turbofan 6, could not meet the requirements of J-10 fighters, especially the gap in thrust indicators.
At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union began to develop a new generation of large-thrust turbofan engines while the third-generation fighter was developed and launched. However, with the strength of China's aviation industry, it is not possible to develop a new type of high-thrust turbofan engine while ensuring the research and development progress of the J-10 fighter. It happened that our country obtained the Soviet MiG-23 fighter from Egypt, and thus obtained the R29-300 turbojet engine with a stre of more than 10 tons of man-forced thrust. This was also the most advanced foreign jet engine that China could come into contact with at that time. Its 12.5 tons of aggravation thrust could basically meet the performance requirements of J-10 fighters.
Therefore, while determining the design plan of the J-10 fighter, China's aviation industry department decided to adopt a two-step strategy in the power system - first, imitate the Soviet-made R29-300 turbojet engine, codenamed vortex spray 15, and strive to complete the design as soon as possible to ensure that the J-10 fighter arrives to There are few power systems that can be used. The second step is to start the development of a new high-thrust turbofan engine codenamed Turbofan 10. Using the Turbojet 15 turbojet engine to equip J-10 fighter prototypes for test flight, the development of the Turbofan-10 "Taihang" high-thrust turbofan engine will be completed as soon as possible, and finally realize the design goal of "dual combination" of J-10 and Turbofan 10.
The early J-10 fighter full-size metal prototypes also used an oval leather-hosted inlet similar to the F-16.
However, to the surprise of Chinese aviation industry technicians, even if the physical object of the Soviet R29-300 turbojet engine is obtained for mapping and simulation, the research and development of the turbojet 15 engine is still very difficult. For us, the technical span from vortex 7/13 to vortex 15 is too large. Therefore, from 1984 to 1991, the engine research and development unit of China's aviation industry only completed the full-size metal prototype of the turbojet 15 engine. This year, the full-size metal prototype of the turbojet 15 engine was also equipped with the full-size metal prototype of the J-10 fighter, formally achieving the goal of two-machine integration. It is worth noting that at this time, the full-size metal prototype of the J-10 fighter still uses an oval leather-hosted air inlet similar to the F-16. Moreover, at that time, the rear fuselage and engine compartment of the J-10 were designed according to the size of Turbojet 15.
If the Turbojet 15 engine was continued to be developed as a J-10 fighter as planned at that time, even if the development progress can be guaranteed, the reliability of this engine may have many adverse effects on the test flight of the fighter. At that time, the replacement of the J-8III fighter with a Turbojet 14 engine was one of the most typical lessons. Moreover, according to the development trend of the third-generation foreign fighter at that time, the high fuel consumption turbojet engine has long been completely eliminated. Unexpectedly, everything turned around in 1991. That year, our country decided to introduce the world's most advanced Su-27 twin-produced heavy fighter from the Soviet Union. For this reason, after learning about the performance of the AL-31F high-thrust turbofan engine equipped by the Su-27 fighter, the relevant units found that the engine meets the requirements of the J-10 fighter, and its technical level is far from comparable to that of the imitation R29-300 turbojet 15 engine.
Therefore, after consultation and consultation with the leaders of the army, the relevant departments of the aviation industry finally decided to stop the imitation of the turbojet 15 engine in 1993 and select the Russian AL-31F high-thrust turbofan engine as the power system of the J-10 fighter. Due to its excellent performance and reliable leather, it will not only be used as a power system for the test flight stage of the J-10 fighter, but also continue to be used as a supporting power system for future mass production models. Of course, Russia also needs to improve and modify the AL-31F high-thrust turbofan engine in accordance with the installation requirements of the J-10 fighter, mainly to move the accessory receiver and other components under the engine to adapt to the single-engine and single vertical tail design. This is the AL-31FN that China purchased in large quantities all year round, and Russia later even developed a vector thrust version of this engine.