The AES100, China's first domestically developed civil aviation engine series, has shown exceptional performance featuring remarkable stability and adaptability under challenging conditions, according to its manufacturer Aero Engine Corporation of China (AECC).
The AECC announced in mid-November that it has signed purchase orders and cooperation contracts for the supply of over 1,500 engines of the AES100 series, with a total order value exceeding 10 billion yuan (about 1.39 billion U.S. dollars).
This is the largest number of orders it has ever received in history, according to the Chinese aero engine maker at the week-long 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China, which ended in the port city of Zhuhai in south China's Guangdong Province on November 17.
The AES100 engine, the main model behind the record-breaking contracts, is one of the company's star exhibits at the airshow.
It obtained the type certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China just three months ago, marking a milestone in the country's independent development of advanced civil aero engines.
"The AES100 is a 1,000-kilowatt-class turboshaft engine that also supports a turboprop variant for general aviation fixed-wing aircraft and drones. It can power hybrid-electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles as well as hybrid-electric fixed-wing aircraft. At present, our testing is going quite smoothly, and the overall situation is looking good," said Li Xin, deputy director of AECC Hunan Power Machinery Research Institute.
Designed to support general aviation and the burgeoning low-altitude economy, the AES100 targets the vast market opportunities arising from China's focus on this sector.
The engine shows exceptional reliability, performing safely and stably under challenging conditions such as icing, heavy rain and strong electromagnetic interference.
When mounted on helicopters, it enables a range of operations, including patrols, rescues, sightseeing and business flights.
"Market demand has driven us to accelerate the development of products that meet the users' demand. For different customer groups in the low-altitude economy, we are continuously enriching our product configurations to cater to various power requirements," Li said.
The AECC also unveiled a report on the civil aero engine market during the airshow, forecasting that the Chinese market is expected to receive 19,000 aero engines, over one-fifth of the global market share, in the next two decades, with a total value exceeding 300 billion U.S. dollars.
China's groundbreaking AES100 aviation engine shows exceptional performance
Russia said on Thursday that it had taken control of another settlement in Ukraine’s Sumy region, while Ukraine, on the same day, reported precision strikes on multiple Russian targets.
Russia's Defense Ministry said in its Thursday report that over the past 24 hours, Russian forces continued striking Ukrainian military positions across multiple fronts.
Russian tactical aviation, attack drones, missile units, and artillery targeted 153 Ukrainian sites, including military-industrial facilities, radar stations, ammunition depots, and temporary deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries, the ministry said, adding that Russian air defense forces shot down 111 fixed-wing drones.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Thursday reported 117 combat engagements in frontline areas in the past 24 hours.
Ukrainian forces conducted precision strikes against multiple Russian military targets, including one radar system, four drone command centers, and an ammunition depot. Additionally, 955 Russian drones were shot down, it said.
Ukrainian media cited military sources reporting that Ukrainian forces used Patriot air defense missiles to shoot down a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea.
Also on Thursday, in a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov outlined Russia's position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine-related commitments, international security guarantees, and the construction of a multipolar world.
Lavrov said Russia regards this conflict as "a major confrontation between Russia and the West", adding that Ukraine is "a pawn and a tool used by the West to build up a bridgehead right on the borders of the Russian Federation" in order to create direct security threats.
"We have mentioned it many times, and President Putin has often let everyone know that we find unacceptable even a 60-day ceasefire Zelensky is once again looking for," Lavrov said, stressing that each diplomatic effort during the special military operation ended with ceasefires being instantly leveraged to bring more weapons to Ukraine, to give the regime a respite.
Russia has not seen the document that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky constantly refers to as a 20-point plan, according to Lavrov.
"As far as we understand, the Ukrainians and Europeans have rehashed the original U.S. plan and are now trying to sell their own 'vision' of this 'world' to the U.S. administration." said the minister.
Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said Thursday that Russia and Ukraine have conducted another exchange of fallen soldiers' bodies.
"As part of the Istanbul agreements, the bodies of 1,000 deceased Ukrainian soldiers were handed over to Ukraine, and the bodies of 38 deceased Russian soldiers were handed over to Russia," Medinsky said in a Telegram post, without mentioning the date of the exchange.
Ukrainian investigators would conduct necessary examinations to identify the repatriated bodies, said Ukraine's Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Petro Andryushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, said Ukraine transferred 38 bodies to Russia as part of the exchange.
Russia and Ukraine agreed on an "all-for-all" exchange of seriously ill and wounded prisoners, soldiers under the age of 25, and the bodies of fallen soldiers during their talks in Istanbul on June 2, 2025.
Russia claims control of settlement, while Ukraine reports precision strikes on Russian targets
