India Scraps Domestic Jet Engine Plan

Jun. 17, 2012 - 01:46PM   |   By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI  

http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120617/DEFREG03/306170005/India-Scraps-Domestic-Jet-Engine-Plan?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|World News|s

NEW DELHI — India has abandoned its efforts to build its own engine to power the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark-2, according to Indian Defence Ministry sources.

The Kaveri engine, which Indian defense scientists are trying to build, has failed to meet Indian Air Force requirements two decades after the project began, the MoD sources said.

This means the LCA Mark-2 will be powered only by U.S. company General Electric’s GE-414 engine, which was short-listed earlier over Germany’s Eurojet to power the LCA Mark-2. The aircraft, under development at Bangalore’s Aeronautical Development Agency, is expected to be ready around 2017.

While an MoD official would not say that the engine project has been abandoned for the aircraft, he did say that the Kaveri engine does not fully meet the Air Force’s thrust requirements. The MoD has now decided to use the Kaveri engine to power only UAVs, the official added.

India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), the agency that is building the Kaveri, had been in consultation with French company Snecma for the past three years to help complete the engine.

DRDO and Snecma had been negotiating to co-develop and co-produce the engine, but they have yet to sign an agreement, the MoD official said.

While the official would not say why the negotiations failed, an Indian Air Force source said the Kaveri project to power the LCA has been all but abandoned. Beyond powering UAVs, the engine also will be a technology demonstration project.

The Air Force source added that besides the failure to meet the thrust level, the Kaveri also has technical problems with its compressor, turbine and engine control system.

Meanwhile, the LCA Mark-1 is readying for induction by 2014, nearly 15 years behind schedule. It will be powered by the GE-404 engine, also from General Electric.

For the LCA Mark-2 program, ADA will order 99 GE-414 engines and the rest will be manufactured in India under technology transfer arrangements.

India to launch AWACS project

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-54985-India-to-launch-AWACS-project

NEW DELHI: With Pakistan stealing a swift march in the "eyes in the sky" arena and China already way ahead, India is now going to launch its own full-blown futuristic AWACS (airborne warning and control system) programme.

"Clearances are underway" to initially develop two AWACS aircraft, with four more to follow at a later stage, under the new `AWACS-India' project to be executed by DRDO and its Bangalore-based Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS).

"Under it, 360-degree AESA (active electronically scanned array) radars will be mounted on large aircraft like IL-76, Boeing or Airbus," said a DRDO source.

Potent force-multipliers like AWACS or AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) systems have changed the entire nature of air warfare because they can detect incoming aerial threats, ranging from fighters to cruise missiles, much before ground-based radars.

They also serve to direct air defence fighters during combat operations with enemy jets and also help in tracking troop build-ups.

Pakistan already has four Swedish Saab-2000 AEW&C aircraft, with four more Chinese ZDK-03 AWACS in the pipeline. China has around 20 AWACS, a mix of new and old systems, say sources.

But IAF has only three Phalcon AWACS mounted on IL-76 aircraft, under the $1.1 billion tripartite agreement among India, Israel and Russia finalized in 2004, despite being confronted with two potentially hostile fronts.

The case for two additional "follow-on" Phalcon AWACS, with a range of over 400-km and 360-degree coverage like the first three, has run into some rough weather due to sharp cost escalation.

Moreover, DRDO's ongoing mini-AWACS project, under which indigenous AEW&C systems are to be mounted on three Embraer-145 jets obtained from Brazil for $210-million, has also slipped after being approved in October, 2004, at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore.

DRDO, however, contends the project is now on track. "CABS will get the first Embraer, modified with antenna units and other structures mounted on its fuselage, in July," said an official.

"All electronic systems, with a normal radar range of 250-km and 240-degree coverage, will then be integrated. The first flight should take place in early-2013. The project completion date is April 2014," said an official.

IAF is awaiting the completion of the mini-AWACS project as well as the launch of the larger 'AWACS-India' programme with crossed fingers.

4th T-50 Indo-Russian Stealth Fighter To Fly in 2012

http://www.defencenews.in/defence-news-internal.asp?get=new&id=1291

 

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said today that it will fly the fourth Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter into it's test and development program this year. The stealth fighter is being co developed by India and Russia together.

United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is currently testing three technology demonstrator fighters. A fourth will be brought in this year.

The first production variant of the T-50 will enter service with the Russian Air Force by 2015, and the first evaluation example by 2013. The evaluation version of the fighter will be fully loaded with weapons and the fighter will undergo extensive weapons trials in that period before entering into full service. The Russian air force plans to acquire 60 of the fifth-generation fighters.

The T-50, also known as project PAK-FA, first flew on January 29, 2011 and was first publicly revealed at the Moscow Air Show in August that year. India will also acquire these advanced fighter aircraft based on the T-50. The Indian variant will be slightly different because of different threat perceptions of these two countries.