Be careful what you wish for!
32 years after, Tejas Light Combat Aircraft handed over to Indian Air Force
By:
PTI | Updated: January 17, 2015 10:18 PM
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Handed over meaning Hindustan Aeronautics WASH HANDS and told Modei Govt this is the BEST EFFORTS from us, can not expect any better.
Then Air Force REJECTED IT, say go fly kite with it! There is NO ENGINE TOO! The Kaveri Engine Project is REJECTED both by Air Force & Hindustan Aeronautics, nobody are fly with Mustafa Engine!
https://www.thehindu.com/news/natio...t-Kaveri-engine-for-Tejas/article14475955.ece
National
France offers help to resurrect Kaveri engine for Tejas
PTI
New Delhi, July 07, 2016 18:02 IST
Updated: July 07, 2016 18:33 IST
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The French agree in principle to collaborate on the engine, which lacks the real power thrust needed to fly the LCA.
France has offered to help India revive the unsuccessful Kaveri engine project for the indigenous Tejas aircraft and a host of other high-end collaborations. This is a part of the offsets in the multi-billion Euro Rafale fighter plane deal, which is now in the final stages.
Defence sources said the file on the purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft in a fly-away condition from France has been finalised and is likely to be put up before Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon.
The estimated cost of the deal is about 7.89 billion euros and entails a 50 per cent offset clause.
The French have agreed in principle to collaborate on the Kaveri engine, which lacks the real power thrust needed to fly the Tejas.
An upgraded Kaveri engine with 90 kN thrust compared to the existing 72 kN can be developed with French cooperation, which can eventually be used for Tejas, which currently uses an American engine. “The negotiations on offsets were carried out last year with DRDO and some other agencies. Once the contract for the Rafales is signed, there will be a six-month window to finalise the offset,” a source said.
The French are hoping that they will have a bigger share in the Indian defence market and see the Rafale contract as a great breakthrough. They are also hoping that India will eventually go in for more Rafale aircraft, possibly under the ‘Make in India’ route.
The agreement
Under the offset agreement, which was discussed last year, the French side has made a 30 per cent offset commitment for military aerospace research and development programmes and the rest 20 per cent for making components of Rafales here.
The offsets will be carried out by French companies Safran, Thales, MBDA and Dassault, all part of the Rafale project.
As per the initial agreed points, the French have offered to provide stealth, radar and thrust vectoring for missiles technologies besides others to DRDO and domestic defence firms. “The French government has in principle agreed on these points under the offset commitments. Once a final contract for 36 Rafale aircraft is signed, the French government will give subject-wise clearance and concrete talks will start,” a defence source said.
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News » IAF fumes over DRDO's attempts to resurrect Kaveri
IAF fumes over DRDO's attempts to resurrect Kaveri
Last updated on: June 28, 2010 08:48 IST
India's Tejas light fighter is failing to meet performance targets, largely because of an underpowered engine. And, the Indian Air Force (IAF) believes the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is actively stalling the process of choosing a new engine.
A furious IAF, which urgently needs the Tejas to replace its retiring MiG-21 squadrons, has complained in writing to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The IAF report says that even as the Aeronautical Development Agency, or ADA -- which oversees the Tejas programme -- is choosing between two powerful, modern engines from the global market, the DRDO has confused the issue by throwing up a third option: An offer to resurrect its failed Kaveri engine programme, this time in partnership with French engine-maker, Snecma.
The IAF report, currently with the highest levels of the MoD, makes two points. First, since the DRDO has been unable, for over two decades, to deliver a Kaveri engine that can power the Tejas, the ongoing procurement -- of either the General Electric (GE) F-414, or the Eurojet EJ200 engine -- should go ahead.
The IAF's second objection is even more damning for the DRDO: Snecma, the IAF charges, has already developed the heart of the engine it is offering, an uprated derivative of the M88-2 engine that powers the French Rafale fighter. The DRDO, therefore, will not co-develop the engine, but merely provide Snecma with an indigenous stamp. In reality, the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), the DRDO laboratory that has laboured for decades on the Kaveri, will hardly participate in any "joint development".
Further, says a top IAF source, a Kaveri engine based on Snecma's new core will leave the Tejas short of performance, providing barely 83-85 Kilonewtons (KN) of maximum thrust. In contrast, the GE and Eurojet engines already short-listed for selection provide 90-96 KN, a significant advantage. The source says sneaking in the underpowered Kaveri-Snecma engine through the GTRE back door will damage the LCA project.
For the IAF, the performance of the new engine is crucial. It has agreed to accept the Tejas into service as soon as the fighter obtains its Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) in December, even though the Tejas does not yet fly, climb, turn or accelerate fast enough. The IAF's accommodation is based on a promise from the ADA that a new, more powerful engine will overcome all the Tejas' current performance shortfalls.
Senior IAF officers explain that the DRDO needs the Tejas project to endorse the Kaveri-Snecma engine because Snecma insists on a minimum assured order of 300 engines as a precondition for partnering GTRE in "joint development". Since India's futuristic Medium Combat Aircraft -- the other potential user of a Kaveri-Snecma engine -- has not yet been sanctioned, only the Tejas programme, with some 120-140 fighters planned, provides the numbers needed for satisfying Snecma.
The IAF will buy two squadrons (42 fighters) of Tejas Mark 1, which use older GE F-404 engines. In addition, five squadrons (110 fighters) of Tejas Mark 2 are planned, which will be powered by a new engine. Given that each Tejas could go through 2-3 engines during its lifetime, the LCA Mk 2 will actually need 200-300 of the new engines.
Contacted by
Business Standard, the DRDO declined to comment on the subject.
The MoD is backing Kaveri-Snecma as a new engine for the Light Combat Aircraft. This was corroborated on May 13 by Defence Minister A K Antony, who told Parliament that the Kaveri "requires to be optimised for lower weight and higher performance so that it can be used for the Tejas and possibly for Indian next generation combat aircraft."
But there are mixed signals from the establishment. In the same statement, Antony also talked about the possibility of engine import. And the ADA chief, P S Subramaniam, has told
Business Standard: "There are many Tejas already flying that will soon need new engines and we will use the Kaveri-Snecma engines for those. The Tejas Mark 2 will be powered by either GE F-414 or the EJ200."
According to ADA sources, both the GE and Eurojet engines have fully met the technical requirements for the Tejas Mk 2. The Eurojet EJ200 is the more modern, lighter, flexible engine and has impressed the IAF. The GE F-414 is significantly heavier, but provides more power. The Indian tender for 99 engines (plus options) demands that all engines after the first 10 be built in India.