Airliners-India.com

karatecatman · Guest

http://tiny.cc/ven4r
TIMES OF INDIA
With international engines, DRDO fast-tracks LCA project
4 Feb 2009, 0043 hrs IST, TNN

Bangalore : All doubts raised over LCA being a key fighter aircraft for India owing to delay in the Kaveri engine can be put to rest. The LCA will fly - and fly on international engines initially. DRDO has decided that Kaveri engine will not be a hindering factor in India showing off the lightest jet fighter.

M Natarajan, scientific adviser to defence minister A K Antony, has publicly spelt out DRDO's determination to fly the LCA in time for the IAF, even if on international engines in the first few squadrons.

At an Aero India press conference on Tuesday, ADA director P S Subramanyam, said: "I am confident that DRDO will keep to the December 2010 initial operational clearance (IOC) plan. We have started weapons testing on the LCA, and soon the aircraft will fly with the hi-tech MMR radar."

"We can do a few things with the Kaveri engine and fly the LCA no doubt. But that's not the point. There are new specifications and it will take time to meet those. Most of the work with existing specifications is over, but we're working on more complex aspects.

"Meanwhile, we understand the IAF has tight induction bands and we will get the LCA into those bands. The first two squadrons will fly on GE engines and the next four will fly on any international engine that qualifies our new request for proposals.

"The Kaveri engine will take another five years given the new specifications. Engine development is not the easiest of things and no one is going to share technology on the platter. Meanwhile we will keep to IAF requirements," Subramanyam explained.

What this means is operations of the first six LCA squadrons are taken care of -- around 90 aircraft. To a large extent, the aircraft is indigenous and all that would be left would be the engine. The flight path of the LCA seems clear after the go-ahead for international engines.

***
Bangalore, Feb 3 (IANS) The Indian Air Force (IAF) may have to wait for over a decade to fly a home-grown combat jet powered by an indigenous engine as its full development and flight testing has been further delayed, a top defence official said Tuesday.
‘‘The first two LCA (light combat aircraft) squadrons consisting of 20 jets each will be fitted with General Electric (GE) engines. The subsequent squadrons (third, fourth and fifth) could fly with an upgraded version of (the indigenous) Kaveri engine,’’ Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Secretary M. Natarajan told reporters here.
The Kaveri engine is to be co-developed by state-owned Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) and French aeroengine manufacturer Snecma, which was short-listed in 2006. However, a formal agreement is yet to be signed for joint development, testing, transfer of technology and manufacturing.
‘‘Discussions with Snecma have been going on for two years. Instead of going through the cycle of development all over again, we will float an RFP (Request For Proposal) to jointly develop an upgraded version of the Kaveri engine with Snecma. Development and flight testing of the new engine will take at least five-six years,’’ Natarajan, who is also the scientific advisor to the defence minister, admitted.
Though GTRE initiated the ambitious Kaveri project in 1989 and is estimated to have spent a whopping Rs.20 billion (Rs.2,000 crore/$408 million) over the last two decades on its design and development, insufficient thrust and excess weight have dogged its tests on the ground and in flying conditions.
The IAF, which has placed an order for 20 LCAs with the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), has expressed concerns over the low heat thrust of the GTRE-developed engine and sought its weight reduction to 1,050 kg from 1,250 kg.
‘‘It is true that the air force is concerned with the thrust factor and excess weight of the Kaveri engine. A team of air force engineers is working with GTRE and ADA (Aeronautical Development Agency) in addressing the issues. As an on-going project, the air force will be involved at the point of integrating the upgraded version of the engine with the aircraft,’’ Natarajan affirmed.
Clarifying that the Kaveri project would not be shelved, Natarajan said DRDO and its associated agencies such as ADA, ADE and GTRE would work on developing a fully indigenous version for mass production of engines that would be required for the LCA project as trainer and naval versions.
‘‘The prototypes of Tejas have already completed 1,000 flight trials. We expect initial operational clearance by December 2010. Weapon trials will begin soon. The first eight aircraft, to be manufactured by HAL in limited series production, are slated to be inducted into IAF fleet by 2011-12,’’ Natrajan said.
Natarajan was in the city to brief the media about an international seminar on ‘‘Aerospace - Perspectives and Trends in Technologies’’ to be held Feb 9-11, as part of the Aero India-2009 international air show Feb 11-15. DRDO is organising the four-day seminar in association with the Aeronautical Society of India (ASI).
--Indo-Asian News Service