By Shubhangi Palve
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Paris on July 13 for a two-day visit to be the guest of honour at the Bastille Day Parade, which commemorates the storming of Bastille prison in 1789, the trip’s profound symbolic significance won’t go unnoticed. The storming of the Bastille state prison remains a symbol of the fall of the monarchy's tyranny and signals a major victory for the proponents of the French Revolution.
As the visit coincides with the Bastille Day Parade, and India’s tri-services contingent, including IAF aircraft, participates in it, parallels will be definitely drawn to the ‘Make in India’ initiative–which focuses on indigenous development of defence technology. Pitched as a pathbreaking initiative to end the tyranny of global powers, especially in the context of defence capabilities, India’s relentless pursuit of technological prowess in the military arena comes into play here.
Game-changer pact
Modi’s recent US trip paved the way for a landmark pact between General Electric (GE) Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a state- owned enterprise, with the aim of manufacturing cutting-edge fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
This game-changer agreement breaks free from the critical technological barriers imposed by Washington after India's 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests.
So, it is not a mere coincidence that French firm Safran offered complete technology transfer for a collaborative effort in developing a combat jet engine for India's Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)-- a fifth-generation multirole combat aircraft project–ahead of the PM’s trip.
Incidentally, Safran is also the manufacturer of the M88 engines that propel the Rafale aircraft. A September 2016 deal to purchase 38 Rafale fighter jets for EUR7.87 billion had triggered a major row in India.
It seems the US and France are vying for the AMCA jet engine co-production deal with Transfer of Technology (ToT). Surprisingly, the first foreign original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to express interest in collaborating on the design and development of an engine for the AMCA is Rolls- Royce, a British firm.
India-US GE F414 jet engine deal is causing a stir worldwide as it goes beyond engine purchases to focus on technology transfer for India's fighter jets. The US and its western allies have a track record of collaborating on research and safeguarding critical technologies. Previously, the US had shared critical technologies only with its allied nations including the UK, South Korea, and Israel. However, the pact with GE marks the first instance of the US sharing critical technology on a ToT basis with a non-allied country —and that happens to be India. By bolstering its jet engine production capabilities, India aims to gain an edge over geopolitical rivals China and Pakistan, enabling it to join an elite group that includes the US, the UK, Russia, and France.
Unfulfilled ambitions
But amid the euphoria over the recent giant strides made by India in defence collaboration, which paved the way for tiding over barriers put up by technological superpowers, some nagging worries still remain. India's ambitious yet unfinished indigenous Kaveri jet engine development project kick-started more than three-and-a-half decades ago, serves as a grim reminder on these lines. With the HAL-GE deal in place, what will happen to India’s near-four-decade-old Project Kaveri, aimed to design, and develop jet engines indigenously? Will we continue to seek technological assistance to achieve India’s longstanding commitment vis-a- vis Project Kaveri?
The Project Kaveri impasse
For the past 37 years, India has been striving to achieve indigenous production of fighter jet engines. But despite the vaulting ambitions, success has eluded the nation on this front so far. That nagging worry more or less prompted India’s recent pact with GE to facilitate the transfer of F- 414 engine technology. In order to gain insights into India's tardy progress in indigenous jet engine development, it is necessary to delve into the history of the Kaveri engine.
Replacing the MiG fleet
In 1983, India approved the HAL Tejas Project as a replacement for the Soviet-origin MiG-21 fleet. The development of indigenous jet engines to power these indigenous aircraft was assigned to Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in 1986. However, the GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri engine faced challenges in meeting technical criteria and adhering to planned schedules. In September 2008 it was formally separated from the Tejas project. Consequently, the Tejas Mark-1 and Mark-II versions adopted GE-F-404 and GE-F-414 engines, respectively, due to the inadequate thrust capabilities of the Kaveri engine. The outcome: India successfully manufactured indigenous fighter jets but lacked the ability to develop indigenous engines to propel them.
Cost of the Kaveri Project
Late defence minister Manohar Parrikar informed the Lok Sabha on August 12, 2016, that the Kaveri project has cost the exchequer INR2,839 crore (till then). The project achieved the construction of nine full prototype engines and four core engines. Kaveri’s numerous unsuccessful attempts and project deviations indicate a collective failure of the domestic stakeholders–including the scientists at GTRE, DRDO, the Indian Air Force, and the Ministry of Defence–to fully grasp the magnitude of the challenges involved. While mainstream discussions have consistently revolved around project execution and cost-related matters, the issue of technical expertise within GTRE seems to have either been overlooked.
Fighter aero-engine development challenges
In a webinar on 'R&D Challenges in Fighter Aero- Engine Development' in 2021, the former Director of GTRE Dr. K Ramachandra highlighted several crucial areas that required attention.
The key points cited by him included:
Absence of vital components
India does not have the technology and ecosystem to produce Blisk Bling or Single Crystal Blades, vital components of jet engines. Hence, India has to procure disks, blades, and control systems from SNECMA (now Safran). Cooling mechanism for engine combustion The Kaveri engine’s combustion temperature is 30%-35% higher than the average temperature of similar combustion engines. This poses a risk of turbine blade damage due to excessive heat. Consequently, it is essential to focus on enhancing the cooling mechanism for engine combustion.
Engine testing facilities
India lacks the testing facilities for jet engines and their components, such as AI-based prognostic life and usage monitoring systems, ice modelling, and fretting fatigue identification. As a result, India relies on other countries for engine testing, leading to increased project timelines. Having a separate material behaviour simulation facility in India would facilitate research on various materials composites.
Design and development expertise
The design and development of jet engines have posed significant challenges for India, primarily due to a lack of experience and expertise. Entrusting the responsibility of research and development (R&D) to a single organisation can result in extended timelines. However, by fostering collaborative research among various academic and R&D institutes, more efficient and timely results can be achieved in the multi-level R&D of engine parts.
Project Kaveri’s derivative engines
India's pursuit of innovation exemplifies the notion that the failure to meet an intended purpose does not diminish its inherent worth. The Kaveri jet engines did not meet the desired power range of 90-95 kilonewtons (kN) set by the Indian Air Force. One kN is equivalent to 102.0 kilogram-force (kgf), or about 100 kg of load under the earth’s gravity. Kaveri achieved a thrust of 80 kN.
Although this architecture of the Kaveri engine is inadequate for the higher thrust requirements, akin to the full operational capability variant of HAL Tejas, it has made significant progress in critical technology domains, as evident from its higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL), experts said. Consequently, a derivative of the Kaveri, the Kaveri Marine Gas Turbine (KMGT), was successfully developed to fulfil the propulsion needs of the Indian Navy. Additionally, India is currently in the developmental phase of the Ghatak engine, a dry variant of the Kaveri engine capable of producing 52 kilonewtons of thrust.
The Ghatak engine is specifically designed to power India's Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) named Ghatak, an autonomous stealthy jet. This advanced UCAV will boast an internal weapons bay capable of carrying an assortment of missiles, bombs, and precision-guided munitions. The manufacturing plan for GTRE's dry engine technology is also ready. Godrej Aerospace is to manufacture all modules of GTRE's Dry Kaveri Engine, a major milestone as the first Indian private company to do so.
Foreign collaboration
In light of considerable project delays in the development of the Kaveri engine for fighter jets, India has been actively pursuing engines with sufficient capacity for its indigenous aircraft, including Tejas, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), and the Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF).
According to reports, the collaborative manufacturing of 99 jet engines (110 kN) in India through the GE-HAL agreement is projected to cost less than USD1 billion. Under the deal, India will also have access to some of the critical technologies including those special coatings to prevent corrosion, machining and coating for turbine blades, nozzle guide vanes, powder metallurgy discs, thin-walled titanium casing and laser drilling technology for combustors, among others.
“GE and HAL have signed an MoU for co-producing of jet engines in India. This can also serve as a model for future co-production, as India has been cautious about the 'Make in India'
initiative. However, no country is likely to hand over technology in a gift wrap form. It is likely that some percentage of the technology will be transferred.
Initially, the engineering aspect will be provided by the US and the assembling will be in India. While certain smaller components are likely to be manufactured domestically. This aligns with India's agenda of co-production," stated Purushendra Singh, senior research associate at global think tank CUTS International’s Washington DC Center.
French offer
Following the agreement with GE, Paris has given clearance to Safran for co-developing an aerospace engine designed to propel India's advanced fifth-generation AMCA. Ironically, India had previously entered into an agreement with the same company in 2006, when it awarded a contract to SNECMA (Safran’s earlier name) for technological assistance to fix Kaveri’s snags. However, the company later declined to share crucial technologies, including those related to single crystal blades and high-temperature material.
The final cut
The Kaveri engine project has struggled for nearly four decades, lacking direction and failing to develop an engine with optimal performance for the IAF. Repeated rejections occurred due to its inability to meet the requirements set by the IAF. This meant India had to source jet engines from foreign countries. But India’s military establishment is finicky about domestic funds flowing into foreign economies to meet military needs.
These enduring concerns on defence procurement still remain, though it is undeniable that foreign collaboration has the potential to enhance India's jet engine endeavours. Approximately 60% of India's existing defence equipment is of Russian origin. India can aim to gradually decrease its dependence on Russian military hardware through co-production deals with foreign partners.
India's relentless efforts towards the Kaveri engine are continuing. Through a combination of self- dedication and international collaboration, India is poised to achieve remarkable progress in creating a home-grown jet engine with the desired capabilities. Although this achievement may take time, it presents a huge opportunity. In the meanwhile, tapping foreign collaboration pacts is vital to establish a concrete defence manufacturing ecosystem within the country.
(With research inputs by Rochelle Britto) (Graphics by Sadhana Saxena)
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