Ivchenko AI-25

Development

The AI-25 was designed to power the Yakovlev Yak-40 tri-jet airliner, often called the first regional jet transport aircraft, and is the starting point for the Lotarev DV-2 turbofan engine. The project was launched in 1965, with the AI-25s first test flight in 1966, and finally cleared for production in 1967. In 1972, the AI-25 was selected for the Polish PZL M-15 Belphegor, the world's only jet-powered biplane.

Development of the AI-25 continued and the uprated AI-25TL was designed for use by the Czechoslovak Aero L-39 Albatros military trainer with the first flight occurring in 1968. The L-39, would go on to become one of the most popular, and widespread trainer aircraft in the world, with over 3,000 L-39s produced, and with 2,900 examples still in active service today. A smaller version of the AI-25TL, the AI-25TLK has equipped the People's Republic of Chinas Hongdu L-11 fighter-trainer.

The AI-25TLK is also licensed built in the People's Republic of China as the WS-11. Another variant of the AI-25, is the AI-25TLSh in the 1990s, which underwent flight testing by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense in 2002. Ivchenko-Progress is currently marketing the AI-25TLSh as an upgrade to existing L-39 and JL-8 operators that would extend the service life of the aircraft and improve performance. The latest AI-25 is the AI-25TL Series 2 designed for the Mikoyan MiG-AT.

For the demand of a stronger turbofan engine by Turkey for its jet-powered Bayraktar MIUS UAV the Ukrainian company developed the stronger AI-25TLT variant

Usage in FP-5 Flamingo Missile

Ukrainian company Fire Point had purchased a large number of Ivchenko AI-25 from various stockpiles, including landfills and dumps for powering the FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile. These engines had a remaining flight time of some 10 hours. Given the engines will not be used in jet aircraft, Fire Point restores them not to full usage but enough for a Flamingo missile's flight time of three and a half hours. Previous media reports said that the engines had been made by Motor Sich however Fire Point claimed that they had found "thousands of such engines" at various landfills in Ukraine. These engines, in order to keep costs down, have had their titanium parts replaced by "cheaper and easier-to-produce alternatives" to make them flightworthy. Some six thousand of these engines were manufactured and are still in use in aircraft like the L-39 Albatross and Hongdu JL-8 jet trainers in "post-Soviet countries, Asia, and Africa". Fire Point has also established its own plant to produce engines for the missiles, whether this is the Ivchenko AI-25 under licence or not is unclear.

Variants

;AI-25: ;AI-25A: ;AI-25TL: ;AI-25TL series 2 ; ;AI-25TLT: (Black Sea Shield - turbofan) The AI-25TLT licence-built by Turkish-Ukrainian joint venture BSS based in Istanbul for the Bayraktar MIUS : ;AI-25TLK: ;AI-25TLSh: ;AI-25W: ;AI-25WM: ;WS-11: (WoShan - turbofan) The AI-25TLK licence-built in China for the Hongdu L-11 ;Walter Titan: (AI-25WM) ;Walter Sirius:

Applications

Specifications (AI-25TL)

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References

References

1. "AI-25".
2. "More detailed information about AI-25 engine family".
3. (2021-07-17). "Baykar Savunma MİUS Sürprizine Hazırlanıyor".
4. Oleksandr Yan. (2025-09-23). "Fire Point Localizes Production of Jet Engines for Cruise Missiles".
5. Oleksandr Yan. (2025-09-24). "Ukraine’s FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile powered by Soviet engines salvaged from rubbish dumps".
6. (2021-11-11). "MİUS'un Motorları İçin Ukrayna İle Yeni Anlaşma".
7. Wilkinson, Paul H.. (1970). "Aircraft engines of the World 1970". Paul H. Wilkinson.
8. Gas Turbine Engines. ''Aviation Week & Space Technology Source Book 2009''. p. 120.
9. Motor Sich product specifications. http://www.motorsich.com/eng/products/aircraft/tde/ai-25tl/ {{Webarchive. link. (2017-01-10)
10. "AI-25TL, AI-25TLK turbofan: Performance". SE Ivchenko Progress.
11. General arrangement drawing.http://www.leteckemotory.cz/motory/ai-25tl/