Kaveri K9 engine to be developed with SAFRAN : DRDO

With French company Safran agreeing to help India revive its Kaveri combat jet engine project, a senior DRDO official said on Thursday they hope to fly the engine in the next Aero India. The issue of safety is involved since the engine is supposed to be used in Light Combat Aircraft, Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Aeronautical Systems Director General C.P. Narayanan told IANS on the sidelines of the Aero India 2017. “Safety is a concern if you are flying a single-engine aircraft; if it is a twin engine, there is no problem. Reliability and safety are foremost concerns. Now, someone has to audit this engine and say it is safe for flying.” The Kaveri engine development project was sanctioned in March 1989 but dropped in 2014-15 after repeated failures. The project for an indigenous engine was helmed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) of DRDO for mastering one of the most complex technologies. Narayanan said assistance is required for defining the ‘flight envelop’ for the indigenous engine. “That envelop development related to safety is very critical, we are taking help now,” he said. A flight envelop describes its safe performance limits in regard to factors like minimum and maximum operating speeds and elevation. He said an updated version of the engine will be developed, which will be called K9. “We have up to now K8 (prototype), now we are going to call it K9,” he said. On Tuesday, Defence Minsiter Manohar Parrikar said the Kaveri fighter engine project will be revived and that the DRDO is in discussions with Safran as part of offsets under the Rafale jet deal, inked between India and France in September 2016. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha in December 2016, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre had called the effort of the GTRE in developing the engine as “an attempt to mastering one of the most complex technologies”. The minister said the altitude test and flying test bed trials for the engine had been completed and other developmental problems were being addressed to make the engine flight-worthy through in-house efforts as well with assistance from abroad.

How Viable is Building a Stealth Aircraft | Govt to Assess

As an uncertain Fate awaits the multi-billion dollar Indian Program to co-develop a stealth fighter with Russia, Govt has set up a committee to examine what the country gains from the project.

The discussions of the project are underway between 2 countries for several years now but both the countries are yet to sign a $4-billion research and development (R&D) contract for the FGFA.

The Indian Air Force desperately wants the stealth fighter with a powerful engine to give it a super cruise capability.

A prototype called the T-50, built under the PAK-FA (Prospective Airborne Complex of Front line Aviation) project is undergoing tests in Russia. The first prototype flew its maiden sortie in January 2010.

India has a requirement for 120-130 such swing-role planes with stealth features for increased survive-ability, advanced avionics, smart weapons, top-end mission computers and 360-degree situational awareness.

The count of IAF’s fighter squadrons has shrunk to 34 compared to a desirable strength of 42, a capability gap the air force is struggling to fill to tackle a combined threat from China and Pakistan.

The IAF hopes to add more power by inducting Rafales, the indigenous LCA  Tejas, more Sukhoi-30s, and a medium-weight warplane to be built in India in collaboration with a foreign player.