The United States (U.S.) is considering to revoke a license which allowed CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric (GE) Aviation, a division of GE in U.S. and Safran Aircraft Engines, a division of Safran of France, to export LEAP 1C jet engines to China.
The U.S. fears that exporting jet engines to China for a passenger could lead to China imitating the production technology.
The LEAP-1C, the first member of the LEAP® engine family, was selected by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) as the sole Western powerplant for its new C919 single-aisle jetliner. It offers operators exceptional technical, economic and environmental performance, with a 15% reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions versus current engines and up to 50% margin on NOx emissions versus CAEP/6, and in compliance with the most stringent noise standards.
CFM, in partnership with Nexcelle, will deliver a complete Integrated Propulsion System (IPS) for the new Chinese jetliner, also including the nacelle and the thrust reverser. The LEAP-1C was the first LEAP engine to begin flight testing, on a flying testbed (FTB) at Victorville, California, in September 2014 and operated its first flight in Shanghai in May 2017.
Besides, U.S. is also mulling to limit the export of other components for Chinese commercial aircraft such as flight control systems made by Honeywell International Inc. The U.S. has supported American companies’ business with China’s budding civil aviation industry for years. It has issued licenses that allow the companies to sell engines, flight control systems and other components for China’s first large commercial aircraft, the COMAC C919. The narrow-body jet has already engaged in test flights and is expected to go into service in next year.
The matter will be taken up at an Interagency Meeting on Thursday, February 20, 2020. Post this, it will be finally presented to U.S. President – Donald Trump’s Cabinet on February 28, 2020, for final decision.
LEAP 1C jet engine
For the records, GE got the license for exporting LEAP 1C jet engine in 2014. Honeywell International has received licences to export flight control systems to COMAC for the C919 for about a decade. Separately, Honeywell is also looking to a license for flight control technology to participate in the development of the C929, China’s planned wide-body jet venture with Russia. The flight control system operates moving mechanical parts, such as the wing flaps, from the cockpit.
Speaking on the occasion, the Vice President for International Affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association – Remy Nathan said, “If there are any changes, we would hope they would engage with us, as they’ve done before.”
There are speculations that if U.S. goes ahead and cancels the license, China could retaliate by ordering more planes from Airbus SE, rather than crisis-hit Boeing, which relies on China for 1/4th of its deliveries.
