BATTLE FOR A JET ENGINE

FRENCH FIRM SAFRAN HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO JOINTLY DEVELOP ENGINES FOR THE AMCA STEALTH FIGHTER JET IN INDIA, MARKING AN ESCALATION IN ITS RIVALRY WITH AMERICA'S GENERAL ELECTRIC, THE ENGINE SUPPLIER FOR THE TEJAS LCA

- By PRADIP R. SAGAR

AFTER DECADES OF WAITING, HOPES FOR A TRULY 'made in India' fighter jet engine might finally be realised.

New Delhi and Paris are preparing to co-develop a cutting-edge power plant—a project set to propel India into the elite club of nations with access to high-thrust engine technology. Experts from the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), part of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), are in advanced talks with France's Safran Aircraft Engines to jointly design and build a 120-140 kN (kilonewtons) class engine that will power India's 5th generation stealth fighter, the twin-engined Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and the Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TED-BF) for aircraft carriers. The deal is estimated to be worth around $7 billion (Rs 62,149 crore) for around 100 engines. The breakthrough announcement by Union defence minister Rajnath Singh, confirming Safran's partnership to jointly design, develop, test and produce the engine with 100 per cent transfer of technology came just a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day appeal, urging Indian talent to build indigenous jet engines.

While the proposed collaboration with Safran may not be quite as swadeshi as the PM's exhortations, it is a step in that direction and an in-principle decision has been made to pursue it. The proposal is awaiting intra-defence and inter-ministerial clearances before it can be placed in front of the Cabinet Committee on Security for final approval. The AMCA is expected to be ready for production only by 2035. In all, India is projected to be needing around 1,100 engines for its fighter aircraft programmes by 2035.