Aero Engine Corp of China, the nation's leading maker of aircraft engines, is developing a new type of turboprop engine for utility planes and unmanned aircraft.

With a takeoff power of about 240 kilowatts, the AEP20 is being designed at the AECC Hunan Aviation Powerplant Research Institute in Zhuzhou, Hunan province, and is scheduled to be installed on a drone for its maiden flight at the end of 2026.

"We have seen great potential in the new type in the market. Many aircraft makers have reached out to us to discuss their intent to buy it. The AEP20 is badly needed," Xie Li, a project manager of general aviation power plant products at the institute, said on Thursday at the AERO Asia 2025 in Zhuhai, a coastal city in Guangdong province.

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"Its potential users want to use it to replace piston engines that are now used to propel their manned planes or drones. This is because, compared with piston engines, turboprop engines are lighter and have longer service lives. With the same power, a piston engine is about two to three times heavier than the AEP20, and its lifespan is only half that of the AEP20," he explained.

The project manager noted that the AEP20 features high safety design, low carbon emission, low production cost and is very convenient to maintain.

Thanks to the rising demands of short-haul air travel and unmanned cargo delivery, the domestic fleets of general-purpose aircraft and drones keep expanding, creating a strong need for high-performance engines, according to him.

Using the turboprop engine, Xie said, will extensively improve a plane's carrying capacity and operational life, thus promising users better profitability.

At a ceremony in Zhuhai on Thursday, Yitong UAV System, a private drone maker in Yantai, Shandong province, placed a 700 million yuan ($99 million) intent order for hundreds of AEP20 engines, planning to install them on its TP1000 large cargo drones.

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The TP1000 made its debut flight in Qingdao, Shandong, in March. The drone has a takeoff weight of 3.3 metric tons, a payload capacity of 1 ton, a maximum range of 1,000 kilometers when fully loaded and a 7-cubic-meter cargo bay.

More than 380 companies from 22 nations and regions, including Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, are taking part in the four-day AERO Asia 2025 that opened on Thursday in Zhuhai.

A total of 174 aircraft, ranging from small drones to cargo jets and electric flying cars, are on display at the expo, which is focused on general aviation businesses and the low-altitude economy.

Contact the writers at zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn