India's Efforts to Integrate Indigenous Kaveri Jet Engine into Tejas Faces Continued Challenges
- Naveen Ezhilarasan
- Jul 1, 2024
- 2 min read
Despite decades of effort, India's plans to integrate the indigenous Kaveri jet engine into the Tejas fighter aircraft remain elusive, with the project still 2-3 years away from becoming a reality.
The Kaveri engine, developed by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has long been envisioned as the power source for the Tejas, India's homegrown light combat aircraft. However, the engine has faced persistent challenges in meeting the required thrust, weight, and fuel efficiency targets set by the Indian Air Force (IAF).
According to industry sources, the Kaveri engine is currently only able to produce around 70-75 kN of thrust, falling short of the 90-95 kN desired by the IAF. Additionally, the engine's weight and fuel efficiency have also been concerns, posing obstacles to its seamless integration with the Tejas airframe.
"Kaveri is a low bypass twin-spool turbofan jet engine which was slated to provide an 80 KN power pack and adequate 'thrust to weight' ratio required by a modern fighter jet configuration," explained an aeronautical engineer familiar with the project. "However, due to the engine's inability to meet the required specifications, the DRDO was forced to steer the Kaveri engine away from the LCA programme, after an investment of almost four decades of developmental effort."
As a result, the Tejas fighters currently in service with the IAF are powered by the General Electric GE F404 engines, which provide the necessary thrust and performance characteristics. The integration of the Kaveri engine has been pushed back, with the latest estimates suggesting it could take another 2-3 years before the engine is ready for integration and flight testing on the Tejas platform.
The delay in the Kaveri engine's development has been a significant setback for India's efforts to achieve self-reliance in the design and production of indigenous fighter jets. The country's ambitions to power the Tejas and future aircraft with a homegrown engine have faced repeated hurdles, raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of the Tejas program and India's broader aerospace capabilities.
Industry experts believe that the successful integration of the Kaveri engine into the Tejas would be a crucial milestone, not only for the Tejas program but also for India's broader goal of achieving self-reliance in the defense sector. However, the continued challenges faced by the Kaveri engine development suggest that this goal remains elusive, at least in the near term. [1][4][5]
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