The former R & D team of Aero Engine Corporation of China founded "Hanfa Changkong" to tackle the domestic civil medium - and low - altitude aviation power market, and received tens of millions of angel - round investments from FengHe Capital and Xieli Capital | Exclusive Report by Yingke

Author | Lin Qingqing

Editor | Peng Xiaoqiu

Hard Krypton has learned that the R & D company of civil small and medium - power aero - engines, "Hanfa Changkong", has completed an angel - round financing of tens of millions of RMB, jointly led by Matrix Partners China and Xieli Investment. The initial funds will be mainly used for the development of a 400 - kilowatt - class turboshaft/turboprop/turbo - electric engine prototype and the construction of an engine test bench, as well as to accelerate the implementation of core products.

"Hanfa Changkong" was established in March 2024. The core team has work experience at a main aero - engine research institute of Aero Engine Corporation of China and nearly 20 years of experience in the aviation field. Team members have been deeply involved in the closed - loop development of major national aero - engine models such as Taihang, Yulong, XZ - 16, XXS100, and XXP500, with full - process R & D experience from pre - research, design, testing to finalization.

According to data from the General Aviation Branch of the China Air Transport Association, the number of domestic general aviation aircraft reached 4,892 in 2023, a 37% increase compared to 2020. However, the localization rate of civil aero - engines is less than 5%. In the critical 400 - 800 kilowatt power range, imported products such as the Safran Ardiden 3G (turboshaft), Honeywell HTS900 (turboshaft), and Pratt & Whitney PT6 series occupy more than 95% of the market share. The unit price of the engines is as high as 15,000 - 20,000 RMB per kilowatt, resulting in high aircraft prices. On the other hand, the eVTOL aircraft that have emerged in the past two years mostly rely on pure - electric power. The current energy density of mass - produced power batteries is only 0.3 kilowatts per kilogram, which has an order - of - magnitude difference compared with the power density of gas turbine engines, which generally exceeds 3.5 kilowatts per kilogram. The pure - electric route faces fundamental bottlenecks.

In response to the above pain points, "Hanfa Changkong" precisely targets the domestic civil low - altitude aviation power market that has long been monopolized by international giants. Its first product is a 400 - kilowatt - class modular general core engine platform, which can derive turboshaft engines (suitable for helicopters and multi - rotor aircraft), turboprop engines (for fixed - wing aircraft), and hybrid turbo - electric engines (serving hVTOL), covering the power needs of 1.5 - 10 - ton cargo drones, vertical take - off and landing aircraft, and hybrid aircraft. The company adopts a full - process forward - R & D approach. Its 400 - kilowatt - class general core engine uses advanced performance parameter indicators. The compressor and turbine components use mature and stable aerodynamic and structural design solutions. The combustion chamber uses a floating - wall structure to simplify the cooling system. The cost of the core engine can be reduced by about 30 - 40% compared with aero - engines of the same level.

On the supply - chain side, the company integrates domestic manufacturing resources. Among its core suppliers, private enterprises account for 80%, covering all aspects such as precision casting, CNC machining, thermal surface treatment, and TBC coating. In response to the shortcomings of pure - electric power, the company is simultaneously developing a hybrid turbo - electric system. By driving a 400 - kW - class generator with a turboshaft engine and combining it with a high - rate battery pack to achieve power complementarity, the goal is to reach a range of thousands of kilometers and a payload of tons, which is 3 - 5 times higher than that of pure - electric power.

In terms of the R & D model, "Hanfa Changkong" pioneered the "cloud - connected" working model to improve team communication efficiency. It has built its own engine test bench and cooperated with well - known domestic university combustion laboratories and rotor dynamics teams to tackle special processes. Currently, the 3D design of the first 400 - kilowatt turboshaft engine core of the company has been frozen, and the compressor and turbine blades have entered the trial - production stage. It is expected to complete the assembly of the whole engine and the first ignition in the third quarter of this year. The performance debugging is planned to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. In 2026, it will enter the long - term test verification and airworthiness certification process.

In terms of commercialization, the company has carried out technical cooperation with several domestic cargo drone and hVTOL aircraft manufacturers, covering three major fields: medium - and large - sized cargo drones, hybrid hVTOL, and special - operation platforms. The company is currently promoting the engineering verification of multiple 400 - kilowatt - class engines to expand market applications.

Views of the investors:

Zhao Yang, the managing partner of Matrix Partners China, said: Small and medium - sized aero - engines are the "heart" of the low - altitude economy and one of the links with the highest technical barriers and the most concentrated value in the entire industrial chain. With the accelerated development of the low - altitude economy, flight platforms such as large - scale cargo drones, helicopters, and hybrid hVTOL have an increasingly urgent demand for high - performance, low - cost, and reliable power systems. The core team of Hanfa Changkong comes from the top domestic aero - engine main research institutes and has industry - leading forward - design capabilities and mass - production implementation experience. We believe that Hanfa Changkong will achieve key breakthroughs in the field of domestic civil aviation power and provide solid support for the take - off of China's low - altitude economy.

Zhai Gang, a partner of Xieli Investment, believes: Aero - engines are known as the pearl on the crown of manufacturing. They have high technical thresholds, long supply chains, and high trial - and - error costs. For a long time, European and American brands have almost monopolized the market. With the rapid development of the domestic low - altitude economy in recent years, the market urgently needs a large number of high - performance, small - and medium - power aero - engines that are purely domestic, reliable, and durable. The Hanfa Changkong team is an engineering team with continuous and long - term complete - system R & D experience in the aero - engine field. The first engine to be launched by the company is the first domestic civil unit of its kind, which greatly supports the development of the domestic low - altitude economy.