With the Kaveri engine project for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) making little headway, DRDO has modified it into a marine version and has claimed to have reached ‘self-reliance’ in gas turbines for warship propulsion. While it has still not been fitted on board any Indian warship, the engine, DRDO claims, will put India in the ‘elite club’ of marine gas turbine designers like the US, Russia and the UK. DRDO says using the core of the Kaveri engine, scientists from the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) Bangalore have added a ‘Low Pressure Compressor and Turbine’ and designed a ‘Free Power Turbine’ to use it for maritime applications.“The Kaveri Marine Gas Turbine (KMGT), as it has been named, has been transported to Naval Dock Yard, Vishakapatnam, and installed on to the Marine Gas Turbine test bed which is an Indian Navy Facility capable of testing the Gas Turbines up to 25 MW of shaft power through a reduction gearbox and a water brake dynamometer,” a DRDO statement said. The Kaveri engine for the LCA has been hit by a series of delays and cost overruns ever since work started in 1989. With the programme nowhere near completion, the first 40 LCA aircraft being ordered by the Air Force will be powered with US-made GE 404 engines. The Defence Ministry is still not sure whether the Kaveri will ever make it as the engine of future fighter aircraft and is mulling whether to go in for a completely imported engine or jointly develop the indigenous engine with a leading international player. Manufacturers like General Electric (US), Snecma (France), Rolls Royce (UK) and NPO Saturn (Russia) are being considered for the project.However, DRDO says the marine version, described as a ‘spin off’ during research, has the Navy’s support as it has been involved in its development and has supported the testing phase of the power plant. The engine has been tested at its potential of 12 MW during at a testing facility and is capable of powering India’s Rajput class of ships, DRDO says. “With this development, India will become self-reliant in the technology of gas turbines for ship propulsion. This will put India in the elite club of Marine Gas Turbine designers like the US, Russia, the UK and Ukraine,” says the statement.
