Kaveri Engine

The Kaveri Engine was designed by DRDO. It is used to power the engines of Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

What were the issues around Kaveri Engine?

The project of developing Kaveri Engine was launched in 1989. However, it was delinked from the Tejas Programme in September 2008 as it failed to satisfy the necessary technical requirements. The DRDO couldn’t develop the engine dur to lack of availability of equipment and materials, non – availability of skilled manpower, lack of availability of test facilities in the country. In 2010-11, the comptroller and audit general noted that 251 million USD was spent on Kaveri Engine. But only two out of six milestones were achieved.

What is the foreign help in developing Kaveri Engine?

In 2016, France offered 1 billion Euros to revive the Kaveri engine project. The French Company Snecma is to help in the production of Kaveri engine by sharing its M88 technology.

What are the technical details of Kaveri Engine?

It is an afterburning turbo fan type of engine. Afterburner is a component that is used increase thrust in jets. It is mainly used for supersonic flight, combat and also for takeoff. The afterburner injects additional fuel into the combustor. Turbofan is a type of airbreathing jet engine. In an airbreathing engine, a jet of hot exhaust gases is formed from air. These gases are then heated and expanded through a nozzle.

What is the current progress of Kaveri Engine project?

• According to the Ministry of Defence, the LCA Tejas is integrated with an imported engine. In future, the proposed indigenous engines are to be developed.
• Kaveri Engine has completed flying test bed and altitude tests. This is the first time the indigenously developed military gas turbine was flight tested.