LX có được Roll-Royce Nene do Anh tặng 25 động cơ. Chuyện copy thành Klimov là không thể bàn cãi:
The Nene doubled the thrust of the earlier generation engines, with early versions providing about 5,000 lbf (22.2 kN), but remained generally similar in most ways. This should have suggested that it would be widely used in various designs, but the
Gloster Meteor proved so successful with its
Derwents that the
Air Ministry felt there was no pressing need to improve upon it. Instead a series of much more capable designs using the
Rolls-Royce Avon were studied, and the Nene generally languished.
The Nene was used to power the first civil jet aircraft,
[3] a modified
Vickers Viking, which flew first on 6 April 1948.
[3]
Pratt and Whitney was given a licence to produce the Nene as the
Pratt & Whitney J42, and it powered the
Grumman F9F Panther.
[4] Twenty-five were given to the
Soviet Union as a gesture of goodwill - with reservation to not use for military purposes - with the agreement of
Stafford Cripps. The Soviets reneged on the deal, and
reverse engineered the Nene to develop the
Klimov RD-45, and a larger version, the
Klimov VK-1, which soon appeared in various Soviet fighters including
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. It was briefly made under licence in Australia for use in the
RAAF de Havilland Vampire fighters. It was also built by
Orenda in Canada for use in 656
Canadair CT-133 Silver Star aircraft.
