The Indian government has given its nod to the Snecama – GTRE joint venture to upgrade the Kaveri engine. Photo Credit: Vijainder K Thakur/Sawf NewsDecember 29, 2009, (Sawf News) - The Indian government has given its nod to the Snecama – GTRE joint venture to upgrade the Kaveri engine.
According to the Hindu, the nod followed a backtracking by the IAF on its opposition to the engine, based on the recommendations of a team, headed by Air Vice-Marshal M. Matheswaran. The team, which included officials from the ADA, the IAF and the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, submitted a report that stated that an engine developed jointly by Snecma and the GTRE would not meet the IAF's performance requirements.
The IAF had earlier also sought the delinking of the Kaveri and Tejas project.
On December 14, Defense Minister Shri AK Antony, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that the proposal on the Kaveri-Snecma engine joint venture for LCA Tejas continues to be under consideration.
DRDO has offered to co-develop and co-produce 90 kN thrust class upgraded Kaveri engine with M/s Snecma, France to meet LCA Mk-2 requirements within 48 months from the date of project inception.
DRDO and M/s Snecma will be jointly responsible for engine design, development, flight trials and certification in Tejas.
The modified Kaveri engine will match the performance of the F414 and EJ2000 throughout the flight envelope of Tejas.
Minimum changes are required in the airframe to integrate this engine without affecting the weight and configuration of Tejas.
The proposed engine will be based on Snecama's 'Eco' engine core.
Snecama, which had earlier indicated that TOT for the core may take 15 years, now believes it can be done in 5 years. It proposes a minimum production run of 250 engines to make the joint venture viable.
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