Article Posted on : - Aug 03, 2010

Kaveri engine developed by Bangalore-based Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a DRDO lab.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The DRDO-made 'Kaveri' engine could not be integrated with the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) but it has provided a platform for the development of gas turbine engine technology in the country, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.

"Though the Kaveri engine was not fully meeting the requirement of LCA 'Tejas', it provided a platform for gas turbine technology development in India," Defence Minister A K Antony said in reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

The design and development of Kaveri was sanctioned for the LCA 'Tejas' fighter aircraft programme.

Talking about the milestones achieved by the engine project, the Minister said DRDO has tied up with a Russian scientific organisation Central Institute of Aviation Motors (CIAM) for fine-tuning of the Kaveri engine's performance.

"This association brought the project in higher platform, resulting in successful completion of one major milestone of altitude testing, simulating Kaveri engine performance at different altitude and Mach No," he added.

Antony said that one of engine prototypes 'K9' is being integrated with IL-76 aircraft at Gromov Flight Research Institute in Russia for ground and test bed trials.