Chinese 3D-printed turbojet engine offers ‘new power option’ for military drones
China has tested a 3D-printed turbojet engine in flight for the first time, a development that could support the country’s growing fleet of high-speed, low-cost and quick-to-produce military drones.
During the 30-minute flight on Sunday, the engine took a small, missile-shaped target drone to an altitude of 6km (3.8 miles) and a top speed of around 925km/h, about three quarters the speed of sound, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday.
It said the engine operated normally throughout the mission, with no abnormalities in any of its parameters.
The engine – built entirely from 3D-printed rotor components and with more than 75 per cent of its total weight made from printed parts – produced about 160kg (350lbs) of thrust and served as the drone’s sole source of propulsion during the test.
The aircraft was launched from a ground rail and recovered by parachute. CCTV did not disclose where the trial took place or the engine’s overall mass.
Mi Dong, from the institute that developed the engine under the state-owned Aero Engine Corporation of China, said the flight showed the system could operate reliably at higher altitudes and in more complex conditions, and that it was well matched to the aircraft using it.
It can “provide a new power option for platforms such as loitering munitions, unmanned aircraft and target drones, and has promising application prospects”, he told CCTV.
The use of 3D printing technology, mostly for individual components, started a decade ago.
Companies such as General Electric and Rolls-Royce were early adopters, using printed turbine blades, fuel nozzles and brackets to cut weight and simplify manufacturing.
Researchers and hobbyists in the US and Europe later built small, fully 3D-printed demonstration engines.
However, these prototypes were generally used for laboratory testing, and publicly reported examples of 3D-printed engines powering high-speed drones remain rare.
In July, the Chinese team conducted a captive flight test – where the payload craft does not separate from its carrier – in Inner Mongolia to observe how it performed in real flight conditions, finishing the test successfully and reaching an altitude of 4km.
CCTV said the engine’s design dramatically reduced the number of parts needed to build the engine, helping make it lighter and more efficient, and laying the groundwork for flights at higher altitudes and speeds.
The research team now plans to carry out more demanding flight tests to see how the engine performs in harsher environments and on a wider range of drones, Mi said.
He added that another priority was to refine the manufacturing process and prepare for larger-scale production. “We want to move from a technical success to a product success as quickly as possible,” he said.
