Indigenous development of Kaveri Engine to power the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas aircraft was sanctioned on 30 March 1989 at a cost of Rs.382.81 crore with 31 December 1996 as the planned date of completed (PDC).
In 2004, The cost of the project was revised to Rs.2839.00 crore with PDC of December 2009. Almost Rs 2100 crore have been spent so far.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its 2010-11 report said that Rs 1,892 crores had been spent over two decades on the project, but the country ended up buying General Electric (GE) engines at a cost of Rs 883 crore to power the LCAs.
The project had overshot its budget by 642 per cent without any perceptible results.The project underwent five revisions of cost, and saw a 1,013 per cent rise in its foreign exchange element since inception.
The CAG report had criticised Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) for having finally opted for a joint venture (JV) with a foreign partner, when the purpose of the Kaveri project was to indigenously develop a high performance jet engine for use on fighters.
Kaveri engine (K-9) was flight tested for the first time on November 3, 2010 by DRDO during the Flying Test Bed (FTB) trials (on board IL-76 aircraft) at Gromov Flight Research Institute (GFRI), Moscow, Russia.
The engine remains under development but has been dropped as a prospective power plant for the LCA. It is now a technology demonstrator engine for the LCA. A dry thrust only variant of the Kaveri maybe used to power the Indian Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). Also, more into the future, the Kaveri could be developed as the K-10 with the help of a foreign collaborator to power the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
Reasons for Non-completion
The following are some of the major reasons for non-completion of project within the time-schedule (as stated by defence minister Manohar Parrikar in Parliament on 30 July 2015):
- Technological difficulties faced during development due to complexities of engine system.
- Non-availability of raw materials/ critical components.
- Lack of infrastructure/ manufacturing/ test facilities within the country.
- Non-availability of skilled/ technical manpower in the field of aero-engine technology.
- Increase in scope during development.
Core Technologies
DRDO hasnot been successful so far in developing the nickel and cobalt superalloys for the Kaveri turbine capable of withstanding temperatures of 1,600oC without warping.
Shaping the alloys into engine parts is an equal challenge. GTRE has learned how to make "directionally solidified" turbine blades, but it has not mastered the making of "single-crystal blades," which are now standard.
Indian Eco-system
The Indian aircraft industry is dominated by one big public sector player – Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL). It is supported by DRDO’s several establishments and laboratories, notably GTRE and Aircraft Development Authority (ADA) as well as National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL).
HAL’s engine division has a long history of licenced-production of various imported designs. HAL has been making aero engines under licence from Russia for its MiG-21 and Sukhoi-30 fighters, with Britain's Rolls Royce for Jaguars and advanced jet trainer (AJT) Hawk and Shakti aero engines for its advanced light helicopter (ALH) Dhruv.
Assembling and overhauling are the same thing as designing and developing aeroengines. It has not taken up jet engines for fighters so far.HAL has taken up the design and development of the following aero engines:
- 25 kN Turbofan Engine: The design and development of 25 kN Turbo fan Engine are expected to meet the requirement of engines for basic/ advanced military trainers, small business jets and also for large UAV applications. Core-2 engine run was successfully carried out in January 2018. Development effort of this engine will enable the country to achieve self-reliance in design of this class of engines and technologies thus mastered would be further leveraged to design and develop higher thrust engines for modern fighter aircraft.
- 1200 KW Turboshaft Engine: HAL has also taken up the design and development of 1200KW Turboshaft engine which would be used as power plant for three to six-ton category helicopters. HTSE-1200 engine technology demonstrator is assembled and inaugural test run successfully carried out on February 12, 2018. Maximum speed archived so far is 76% of the RPM. Engine light up under hot and cold conditions was successful.
Until 1991, private companies were not permitted to operate in the aircraft industry. HAL has grown but being government-owned and run, it has suffered from the ills of bureaucracy and reliance on government funds and orders.
