Kaveri, the indigenous aeroengine with over 25 years' chequered story, may after all fly on the indigenous LCA fighter as was originally planned.
Senior officials of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which spearheads the two marquee programmes said on Sunday that they hoped to to take the help of an overseas aeroengine maker to revive Kaveri, remove its shortcomings and get it certified to safely power the fighter.
France’s engine maker Snecma, which already has projects with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, is seen as a candidate; it could come on the back of offsets (or return obligations) that are due after the government ordered 36 Rafale fighter planes from another French company Dassault for nearly Rs. 59,000 crore.).
Eventually "We will most probably use it for the LCA [Light combat Aircraft]. If not, we will use it for `Ghatak'" the proposed combat drone, said DRDO Chairman S.Christopher, who is also Secretary, Defence R&D, addressing a news conference here.
The engine was test flown on a Russian IL-76 aircraft back in 2011 and was found wanting on at least five counts, scientists had earlier said.
C.P.Ramanarayanan, who as Director General (Aero R&D) heads the aeronautics labs and their programmes, said Rs. 2,100 crore has been pumped into the Kaveri programme and five engines have run 3,000 hours on ground so far.
Next month, the Kaveri's nodal lab GTRE (Gas Turbine Research Establishment) is due to begin a six-month-long "aspect test" to improve the engine's performance. The new revival plan is estimated to cost another Rs. 500 crore.
"We are trying to allocate one of the LCA prototypes for this and trying to make use of some of the [Defence purchase] offsets for handholding. In a matter of one-and-a-half to two years, God willing, we may be able to see Kaveri flying in the LCA. Any day we need to also develop an indigenous engine," he said.
If not the LCA, it could be used to power other indigenous aviation programmes, such as the proposed Ghatak weaponised drone.
