In a setback for India's jet engine aspirations, India's first indigenous engine programme was delinked from the LCA programme in 2008. However, India turned this hiccup into an opportunity by using the engines for the unmanned combat aerial vehicles without the afterburner.
Speaking about the Kaveri engine programme, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Samir V. Kamat said the engine, in its original form, has not delivered the thrust that was required for the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft).
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"The engine is working very well; it has given us a thrust of 72 kilonewton. But the LCA needs a thrust of 83-85 kilonewton. So, it's not going to be used in the LCA, but we are using the derivative of the Kaveri engine for our unmanned combat aerial vehicle. So, without the afterburner, the Kaveri engine will be used in our unmanned combat aircraft," Kamat was quoted as saying.
He observed that engine development is a long-drawn process and said even if one looks globally, it can be seen that any engine development programme takes between 10-13 years to reach maturity before it can be integrated with the platform.
"So, if the CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) gives a sanction this year, I would assume that by 2035-2036, the engine would be ready for integration. Then it would go through the acceptance trials. We will do the development trials of the engine much before with the platform, but the final acceptance trials will start at 2035," Kamat was quoted as saying.
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He said the first two squadrons of fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) will be delivered with a GE F414 engine.
"Our focus is going to be on aero-engines. Our focus is going to be on the unmanned combat aerial vehicle. We are also looking at working in several deep-tech technologies, which will be essential for all our systems going forward. So, we are looking at quantum technologies, at AIML (Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning) technologies, advanced materials and these technologies will go into any system that we develop," he further said.