History GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri

1 history

1.1 programme
1.2 development
1.3 current status
1.4 foreign help

history
programme

in 1986, indian defence ministry s defence research , development organisation (drdo) authorized launch programme develop indigenous powerplant light combat aircraft. had been decided in lca programme equip prototype aircraft general electric f404-ge-f2j3 afterburning turbofan engine, if parallel program successful, intended equip production aircraft indigenous engine.

the drdo assigned lead development responsibility gas turbine research establishment (gtre), had experience in developing jet engines. had developed gtx37-14u after-burning turbojet, first ran in 1977, , first jet engine designed entirely in india. turbofan derivative, gtx37-14ub, followed. gtre returned turbojet technology redesigned, unsatisfactory, gtx-35.

for lca programme, gtre again take turbofan design designated gtx-35vs kaveri (named after kaveri river). full-scale development authorized in april 1989 in expected 93-month programme projected cost ₹3.82 billion (us$59.6 million). new engine typically costs $2 billion develop, according engine industry executives.

development

the original plans called 17 prototype test engines built. first test engine consisted of core module (named kabini ), while third engine first example fitted variable inlet guide vanes (igv) on first 3 compressor stages. kabini core engine first ran in march 1995. test runs of first complete prototype kaveri began in 1996 , 5 ground-test examples in testing 1998; initial flight tests planned end of 1999, first test flight in lca prototype follow next year. however, progress in kaveri development programme slowed both political , technical difficulties.

in 2002, little information had been publicly released concerning nature of kaveri s technical challenges, known kaveri had tendency throw turbine blades, required securing blades snecma (as digital engine control systems).

continuing development snags kaveri resulted in 2003 decision procure uprated f404-ge-in20 engine 8 pre-production limited series production (lsp) aircraft , 2 naval prototypes. ada awarded general electric us$105 million contract in february 2004 development engineering , production of 17 f404-in20 engines, delivery of begin in 2006.

in mid-2004, kaveri failed high-altitude tests in russia, ending last hopes of introducing first production tejas aircraft. unfortunate development led indian ministry of defence (mod) order 40 more in20 engines in 2005 first 20 production aircraft, , openly appeal international participation in completing development of kaveri. in february 2006, ada awarded contract snecma technical assistance in working out kaveri s problems.

in december 2004, revealed gtre had spent on ₹13 billion (us$202.7 million) on developing kaveri. furthermore, cabinet committee on security judged kaveri not installed on lca before 2012, , revised estimate projected total development cost ₹28.39 billion (us$443 million).

in april 2005, there progress on development of kaveri engine, m. natarajan, scientific adviser defense minister told hindu. planning integrate prototype kaveri engine 1 of lca prototypes sometime in 2007 understand nuances of such complex power-pack, further told hindu.

in february 2006, experts told pti kaveri world-class engine. ready join in partnership defence research , development organisation make kaveri work, general william j begert of pratt , whitney, told pti. drdo secretary natrajan told pti kaveri , remain indian project.

on 5 february 2007, scientific adviser defense minister m natarajan said 90 93 per cent of expected performance had been realized , government had floated expression of interest seek partners move programme further. till 11 february 2008, kaveri had undergone 1,700 hours of tests , has been sent twice russia undergo high-altitude tests india has no facility. engine being tested power next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles.

in july 2007, gtre divided kaveri program 2 separate programs. k9+ program , k10 program. k9+ program program prove concept of complete design , gain hand-on experience of aircraft engine integration , flight trials cover defined truncated flight envelope prior launch of production version of k10 standard engine. while k10 program joint venture (jv) partnership foreign engine manufacturer. k10 program engine final production standard kaveri engine , shall have less weight , more reheat thrust along other changes meet original design intent.

in september 2008, announced kaveri not ready in time tejas, , in-production powerplant have selected. development of kaveri gtre continue other future applications. announced in november 2008 kaveri engine installed on lca december 2009, apparently tests only.

in february 2009, published in flightglobal gtre had spent ₹20 billion (us$311.9 million) in developing kaveri engine since 1989, power-plant still overweight , not have 21,000–22,500 lbf (93–100 kn) of thrust customer requires. natarajan told flightglobal programme not scrapped. team of air force engineers working gtre , ada in addressing issues. ongoing project, air force involved @ point of integrating upgraded version of engine aircraft, told flightglobal. discussions snecma have been going on 2 years, further adds. development , flight-testing of new engine take @ least 5 6 years.

in december 2009, kaveri-snecma jv trying back-door entry in lca. people s post reported gtre has agreed de-link kaveri lca, has put in proposal when first 40 ge-404 engines in initial 2 squadrons of lca iaf, phased out should replaced kaveri-snecma engine, in future.

on 3 may 2010, 1880 hours of engine test had been completed on various prototypes of kaveri engine. total of 8 kaveri engines , 4 core engines have been manufactured, assembled , tested. high altitude testing on core engine has been completed successfully.

in june 2010, kaveri engine based on snecma’s new core, uprated derivative of m88-2 engine powers french rafale fighter, providing 19,000–19,000 lbf (83–85 kn) of maximum thrust being considered option drdo.

in july 2010, according vinayak shetty, tejas aircraft integrated kaveri engine , flying on board tejas airframe 2011 or time later in year.

a press release in august 2010, stated gtre of central institute of aviation motors (ciam) of russia trying match objective of fine tuning of kaveri engine performance. until august 2010, 1 major milestone altitude testing, simulating kaveri engine performance @ different altitude , achieving speed of mach 1 had been completed successfully. 1 of kaveri prototype (k9) flight tested @ gromov flight research institute in moscow, on 4 november 2010.

the test conducted @ flying test bed @ gromov, engine running right take-off landing, flying period of on 1 hour altitude of 6,000 m (20,000 ft). engine helped il-76 aircraft test bed fly @ speeds of 0.6 mach in maiden flight, according defence research , development organisation (drdo).

engine control, performance , health during flight found excellent. test, kaveri engine has completed major milestone of development programme, added. after completing these milestone kaveri engine flight-worthy. kaveri engine tested first time on flying testbed , trials success.

till april 2011, first phase of kaveri engine ftb trials have been completed , further tests continue may 2011 onwards. flight tests carried out far 12 km (39,000 ft) maximum altitude , maximum forward speed of 0.7 mach.

in annual report 2010–11, comptroller , auditor general of india noted ₹18.92 billion (us$295.0 million) had been spent on development, 2 out of 6 milestones prescribed having been met. among deficiencies, cag says engine weight higher design specifications, being 1,235 kg (2,723 lb) against 1,100 kg (2,400 lb), , there no progress on developing compressor, turbine , engine control systems.

on 21 december 2011, 9 prototypes of kaveri engines , 4 prototypes of kabini (core) engines have been developed told defence minister ak antony in rajya sabha. further on, 2050 hours of test flight of engines has been taken place far. 27 flights 55 hours duration have been completed on testbed il-76 aircraft 12 km (39,000 ft) maximum forward altitude , maximum forward speed of 0.7 mach had been recorded.

problems

the kaveri program has attracted criticism due ambitious objective, protracted development time, cost overruns, , drdo s lack of clarity , openness in admitting problems. of criticism of lca program has been aimed @ kaveri , multi-mode radar programs. there has been criticism of degree of realism in drdo s planning schedules various elements of lca programme, particularly kaveri development effort. france s snecma, on half century of successful jet engine development experience, took 13 years bring rafale fighter s m88 engine low-volume production after bench testing had begun; similar timespan less-experienced gtre see kaveri production beginning no earlier 2009. criticism has been drdo s reluctance admit problems in engine , resistance involve foreign engine manufacturers until problems became large handle.

in august 2010, regarding reasons delay, ministry of defense press release reported:

current status

the drdo hopes have kaveri engine ready use on tejas in latter half of 2010s decade , according latest news still research on going on , time complete research has been extended 2011-2012.

“in recent times, engine has been able produce thrust of 18,000 lbf (82 kn) iaf , other stake-holders desire power between 20,000–21,000 lbf (90–95 kn) , senior officials told hindu. on using kaveri lca, said engine fitted on first 40 lcas supplied iaf when come upgrades drdo in latter half of decade. article further adds in 2011, 50-60 test flights carried out mature engine in terms of reliability, safety , airworthiness.

india s gas turbine research establishment (gtre) aims integrate kaveri power-plant hindustan aeronautics ltd (hal) tejas fighter within next 9 months. test aircraft operated india s aeronautical development agency used integration, says industry source familiar programme. if integration successful, gtre hopes see tejas fly kaveri power-plant end of 2013.

in lok sabha on 10 december. 2012 defence minister k antony gave update on progress made kaveri engine development project follows:

kaveri engine integrated il-76 aircraft @ gromov flight research institute (gfri), russia , flight test carried out 12 km (39,000 ft) maximum altitude , maximum forward speed of 0.7 mach. twenty 7 flights 57 hours duration have been completed.

drdo demonstrated technological capability in aero-engine technology. has been great achievement in aerospace community of country, when first ever indegeniously developed fighter aircraft engine subjected flight testing. tacit knowledge acquired drdo scientists during project applied further aerospace technology. kaveri spin-off engine can used propulsion system indian unmanned strike air vehicle (usav).

in january 2013, gtre director said abandoning plan co-development snecma, still need overseas partner, selected through competitive bidding.

in november 2014, defense research , development organization (drdo) decided abandon kaveri engine (gtx-35vs ) programme due shortcomings.

foreign help

on 4 july 2016, according indian media report, france offered invest eur 1 billion revive india’s combat jet engine project, proposing joint development plan see stalled kaveri gas turbine powering indigenous tejas fighters 2020.

on 20 november 2016, drdo director general aeronautics cluster c p ramanarayanan confirmed drdo , french snecma have tied revive kaveri engine part of offsets deal 36 rafale jet. expected engine integrated , tested in lca tejas 2018.