Surface Ships
- Type 054A Frigates
- Engines: Pielstick PA6 STC diesel engines (French design, licensed production by Shaanxi Diesel Engine Factory)
The Type 054A frigate, a cornerstone of China's modern naval fleet, is lauded for its advanced missile systems and versatile capabilities. However, beneath the deck lies a dependency that China would prefer to keep under wraps. These frigates are powered by four Pielstick PA6 STC diesel engines. The Pielstick engines, a French design, are produced under license by the Shaanxi Diesel Engine Factory in China. This arrangement has enabled China to equip its frigates with reliable propulsion systems without having to develop such technology independently. The reliance on Pielstick’s tried-and-tested design has provided operational dependability, but it also highlights China’s lag in developing its own high-performance diesel engines for such crucial naval assets.
2. Type 052D Destroyers
- Engines: MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel engines (German design, licensed production)
- Gas Turbines: The QC-280 gas turbines, like those on the Type 052D, are influenced by the Ukrainian GT25000 design.
- The Type 052D destroyers, often seen as a testament to China’s naval modernization, similarly depend on foreign technology for their propulsion. These destroyers use MTU 20V 956 TB92 diesel engines, a robust and reliable German design. The MTU engines are produced under license in China, ensuring that these warships can perform efficiently. The heart of their propulsion remains a product of German engineering. The use of these licensed engines underscores the gap in China’s ability to produce high-quality diesel engines domestically, a gap that contrasts with its advanced shipbuilding capabilities.
Diesel-Electric Submarines (SSKs)
- Type 039 (Song class)
- Engines: MTU 396 SE84 diesel engines (German design, licensed production)
- Type 041 (Yuan class)
- Engines: HND 8V 4000 M70 diesel engines (MTU 4000 series, German design, licensed production by Henan Diesel Engine Industry Co.)
Type 039 (Song Class) and Type 041 (Yuan Class) Submarines
And then we have the submarines. The Type 039 (Song class) submarines run on MTU 396 SE84 diesel engines – another German gem. Moving on to the Type 041 (Yuan class) subs, you’d think there’d be some breakthrough, right? Nope. These submarines use HND 8V 4000 M70 diesel engines, which are essentially based on the MTU 4000 series engines. These engines are produced by Henan Diesel Engine Industry Co., Ltd. (HND) under license, maintaining the reliance on German technological foundations.
China's naval fleet might look fierce from a distance, but up close, it's clear they’re leaning hard on German and French tech to keep things moving. Sure, China has made some impressive strides in shipbuilding, radar systems, and missiles, but when it comes to the heart of their ships – the engines – they're still stuck in the passenger seat, letting Europe drive.
So, next time China tries to throw shade at other countries like India for their naval advancements, maybe take a moment to reflect. India might be licensing tech too, but we’re also putting serious effort into developing our own engines and cutting down on foreign dependency. India’s got local manufacturers like Kirloskar stepping up, and strategic partnerships that actually transfer technology, not just slap a new label on it.
China, it’s time to get real. Stop riding on borrowed tech and start investing in your own diesel engine development. Only then can you truly claim to have a fleet that’s as powerful and independent as you want the world to believe. Until then, maybe hold off on the mockery – after all, those shiny warships of yours are still cruising on European engines.
The "French Heart" that promotes domestic frigates is actually "self-developed" by China
Husu Shi Lao Observer.com Deputy Editor-in-Chief 2019-04-25 22:41
Along with the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Navy, Shi Lao began planning at the beginning of this year and started writing in late January. After nearly three months of procrastination and procrastination between writing other WeChat articles and military reviews, he finally caught up with the push of the last article of the Navy's great history on April 23. Although the article actually omitted a lot of specific models, such as the series of developments of the 037 type after the 1980s, and a lot of plans that the Navy has remained in the planning stage, but Shi Lao thought he had sorted out the basic clues. If he wants to improve on this topic in the future, Shi Lao has a foundation.
▲ So Shi Lao can write something else
If we talk about the most critical ship power system of the Navy in recent years, it is undoubtedly the GT-25000 gas turbine that was introduced from Ukraine and has undergone three rounds of localization and improvement. However, if we talk about the power system with the largest number of equipment on active medium-sized ships, it is undoubtedly the 16PA6V-280STC diesel engine equipped on the 054, 054A and 056 frigates. After all, there are 4 engines on each of the 32 054/054A ships and 2 engines on each of the 056 ships, which is more than 200 diesel engines. Only those boat engines under 500 tons can be compared.
▲ The production of this engine is indeed not small in the contemporary era
Speaking of the 16PA6V-280STC diesel engine, everyone knows that this thing is of French origin. In 1978, my country signed an agreement with the French Thermal Engine Association through the China National Technical Import and Export Corporation to introduce the PA series of medium-speed high-horsepower diesel engine patents, and the Sixth Machine Department at that time handed it over to Shaanxi Diesel for trial production and manufacturing. But why did China introduce this series so early, but it was not used in batches on domestic frigates until after 2000?
▲ All the frigates built by the Chinese Navy in recent years use this main engine
This requires a careful examination of the contents of the "S.E.M.T-PIELSTICK
PC2 and PA6 Diesel Engine License Agreement" signed that year. Although the PA6 series diesel engines mentioned in the French agreement have a cylinder diameter of 280 mm and a single-cylinder output power of 400 horsepower, they have two branches according to the cylinder layout, one is in-line and the other is V-type. The former has 6, 8, and 9 cylinder models with a power of 2400-3600 horsepower, and the latter has 12, 16, and 18 cylinder models with a power of 4800-7200 horsepower.
▲ China's current PA6 series diesel engines are also flourishing
After the introduction of PA6, the first diesel engine trial-produced by Shaanxi Diesel was the 6PA6L engine with the simplest structure and the smallest power, and it was successfully trial-produced in May 1983. However, this 2400 horsepower engine is mainly used for internal combustion locomotives, and marine engines require at least 12 cylinders. Since the French licensing information and parts are complete, the first 12PA6V was assembled in October 1983 and was approved by France the following year.
▲ The Type 918 minelayer became the first Chinese warship to use French heart
According to Chinese tradition, new diesel engines are generally used on auxiliary ships to verify relevant performance. Therefore, the first batch of 12PA6V was installed on the Type 918 minelayer. After the performance is verified, it will be used on more important main battle ships. The new batch of 12PA6V-280MPC diesel engines were used on the 037II missile boat and the 072III large landing ship in the early 1990s. They were equipped with domestic superchargers and met the use needs of both.
▲ The small 037II type was stuffed with three main engines of this type, and the space was crowded.
The 12PA6V-280MPC diesel engine on the 037II missile boat has adopted the method of additional supercharging system, which has improved the problems of high fuel consumption and large smoke exhaust at low speed of diesel engine to a certain extent. However, if the PA6 series diesel engine wants to achieve satisfactory operating results in the entire speed range, it must use a better technical approach-sequential supercharging technology. The so-called sequential supercharging technology is the STC (Sequential Turbo Charging) in the later 16PA6V-280STC engine.
▲ It is not difficult to see that the power system using STC supercharging has significantly increased power and reduced weight
Sequential supercharging refers to a supercharging system composed of two or more turbochargers in parallel. Its main purpose is to solve the matching contradiction between the diesel engine and the supercharger, improve the low-operating performance of the diesel engine, and at the same time, like other supercharging methods, increase the power of the diesel engine, and increase the power of a single diesel engine by about 10%. At that time, STC technology was blank in China, but the French Thermal Engine Association did have a PA6 diesel engine with STC supercharging. However, the French were not honest, and they were unwilling to provide us with this new technology easily, and there were no drawings or materials at all.
▲ Although the French are more loyal to money, they are not always smart
Because among the domestic products at that time, the PA6 series was the most promising diesel engine for the next generation of medium-sized ships, the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, the China Shipbuilding Corporation and the Navy were determined to upgrade the PA6 diesel engine to STC. In order to overcome this difficulty, during the "Eighth Five-Year Plan", Harbin Engineering and Shaanxi Diesel jointly demonstrated and developed the design and prototype of the STC supercharger, and verified it on a 12PA6V-280; then during the "Ninth Five-Year Plan", according to the long-term planning of the Navy's power plant and the power requirements of the frigate, the development of the 16PA6V-280STC diesel engine was started. The project started in 1996, the prototype motor vehicle was completed in 1998, and the performance verification and 200-hour endurance test were completed in 1999. So far, the domestic diesel engine with performance that meets the new generation of frigates has been initially established.
▲ France's own frigates use the 12PA6V-280STC engine
The rated power of the 16PA6V-280STC is 7040 horsepower, and the overload power can reach 7750 horsepower. Its volume is much more compact than the previous generation VE390 series diesel engine, and its fuel consumption is reduced by nearly 10%. It is more suitable for the power requirements of 3000 to 4000 ton missile frigates. The only problem is that although the PA6 series engine has been produced in China for many years, the supercharging system of this 16PA6V-280STC is also independently developed, but the overall localization rate of the machine is only 73%. Considering that this engine is to be used in batches for our army's main battleships, this localization rate obviously needs to be improved. Therefore, in 1999, the development of the 16PA6V-280STC with a localization rate of 95.47% was immediately launched.
▲ This is the engine used in 054 later
The relevant research and development work progressed smoothly. In 2000, this diesel engine, which had to be imported except for a few equipment such as the main bearing, completed the 400-hour endurance test and passed the product appraisal. In 2001, the Navy ordered 8 16PA6V-280STC diesel engines at one time, 4 for Guangzhou Huangpu and 4 for Hudong-Zhonghua - these are the 8 main engines used by the two 054 missile frigates. Later, as the 054A missile frigate was ready to be put into mass production, the factory further carried out research on the full localization of the 16PA6V-280STC engine, and completed the full localization and reliability improvement of this type of engine at the end of 2011, with a localization rate of up to 99.2%.
▲ It is precisely because of the high localization that the construction of 054A and 056 can be worry-free
The successful development of the 16PA6V-280STC diesel engine with high reliability and high localization rate has ensured the replacement of the diesel main engine of the Chinese Navy frigates after 2000, and the power demand of more than 80 frigates in total. If other types of PA6 series diesel engines are included, the power systems of a large number of key surface ships, including the large tank landing ships built in batches in the new century of the Navy, will benefit from this. From this perspective, although the introduction of the PA6 series diesel engine is a special product of the "honeymoon period" of East-West relations, the ability to promote this fate to the contemporary main battleships of the Chinese Navy is still based on the unremitting research and accumulated industrial foundation of Chinese military workers.
