The opportunities in the manufacture of helicopter engines are likely to increase multifold providing lucrative openings to domestic companies to venture into this segment.
Developing a jet engine for a high-performance fighter is technologically more demanding than any other aircraft system. Only a handful of countries have been able to develop aircraft engines. China, like India, has not yet achieved success in aeroengines. India has always dreamed for the development of an indigenous aeroengine by its Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for decades now. That dream may soon become reality, but ironically with help from foreign sources.
Look at this possibility: India inked the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets on September 23 and that contract comes with a 50 per cent offset clause, of which eight per cent of the amount should be a technology transfer. That technology component of the offset could be about Euro 250 million. DRDO has been tasked to finalise that technology transfer and to decide on what technology India would like to have. Aeroengine as a technology is also under consideration as offset under the Rafale contract.
France has reportedly offered to help India revive the unsuccessful Kaveri engine project for indigenous Tejas aircraft as part of the offset in the Euro 7.8 billion Rafale deal.
French maker Dassault Aviation's Rafale is powered by two Snecma M88-2 turbofans. The same plane maker's Mirage-2000 is powered by a single Snecma M53-P2 afterburning turbofan. While the latter is already part of the Indian Air Force (IAF) fleet, the former will join the fleet in three years.
Snecma has a history in India with regard to the nation's desire to locally develop an aeroengine. In 2007, India's DRDO began talks with Snecma to explore the possibility of getting an indigenous aeroengine to power the indigenous 'Tejas' Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
This story is from the October 2016 edition of Geopolitics.
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This story is from the October 2016 edition of Geopolitics.
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