DRDO talks tieup to get Kaveri going

Outside help inevitable, as project has 'serious problems', says top defence technocrat

The Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) has changed tack on key projects.

It will seek more collaboration on its several projects, particularly from the private sector, and an important case will be the effort to build an engine for the light combat aircraft, the nation's top defence technocrat said.

Collaboration will become the norm, as large sums of public money will never again be available without better guarantees of success, M Natarajan, chief executive of DRDO, an umbrella body of the nation's defence labs, said.

Other examples of such collaborations were the Brahmos supersonic missile, developed with the Russians, and the resurrected airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system, likely to be built on the Brazilian Embraer aircraft platform.

"After the euphoria of the initial success, the hard 'techno-economic' realities will play a dominant role," Natarajan said. Long term success then will depend on the right kind of risk sharing partnership.

On the Kaveri, the LCA engine, he said the time had come to make the "painful but businesslike" decision that the indigenous effort to develop a power plant for the LCA had "serious problems" and needed outside help.

The fighter aircraft engine has cost some Rs 3,000 crore, but hasn't reached the point where it can be fitted to the aircraft even for tests. The LCA "platform" or the rest of the aircraft has cost close to another Rs 7,000 crore. "After spending nearly Rs 10,000 crore between the LCA and the Kaveri, the only way to go is forward."

The first step, forward, will be to hasten the induction of the two squadrons of the LCA powered by American engines, supplied by General Electric, one of the largest US defence contractors. Some eight limited series prototypes of the LCA are being tested with these engines.

The second wIll be to "seek collaboration to modify the Kaveri engine to bring it up to the best performance level," he told an audience of aerospace scientists and engineers, at the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) here last month. He was delivering the NAL's foundation day lecture, titled "Opportunities and challenges in defence programmes and projects."

"At the aero show," Natarajan said, referring to February's international aeronautics trade show here, "we decided to throw ourselves open to audits, by experts from various companies." The plan was to find a collaborator, who would help modify the Kaveri to make it work, and work well.

More recently, it has been reported that the Safran Group, a large French defence contractor, may be that collaborator. Snecma, Safran's flagship aerospace firm, is likely to look for an agreement with the DRDO's gas turbine research establishment that is building the Kaveri.

Also involved will be the Aeronautical Development Agency, which was specifically formed by the DRDO to build the LCA platform, and ultimately the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which will manufacture the LCA. HAL built the prototypes.

These prototypes are being flight tested with two GE engines, the GE 404 F2J3, and the GE 404 IN20. These engines, some 40 of them will be fitted to the first two squadrons of the single-engine LCA.

The IAF announced in February that it will place an order for 20 such aircraft. Air chief marshal S P Tyagi, the chief of air staff, had said at the time, a further 20 may also be ordered.

At last month's talk, Natarajan said, the plan now is to bring the Kaveri up to speed so that subsequent LCAs will be fitted with this engine. "I don't see a lack of effort among our scientists and engineers," he said in a burst of candor, "but I see a lack of confidence."

"Even though we have the design and development capabilities to build gas turbine engines, there is a fear, that we haven't put an engine of our own in an aircraft, also of our own design. We need some infusion of confidence."

The LCA programme itself will now be exploited to build derivatives, such as a medium range combat aircraft (MCA) and "possibly a jet trainer," Natarajan said. "There is no 'qualitative requirement' by the armed forces" for the MCA, at this time, however, he said.

The DRDO is also changing itself in other ways, recognising the need for both young blood at the scientific level, and for strong management capabilities among "those who aspire to leadership positions in the organisation."

Over the next two years, the DRDO will hire some 3,000 scientists, and try to retain them in the face of "better pay and perks from the multinational firms."