IAF news

Please do not copy elsewhere.

Date Posted: 25-May-2004

JANE’S DEFENCE WEEKLY – JUNE 02, 2004

——————————————————————————–

Russian engine to power India’s HJT-36 trainer
HENRY IVANOV JDW Correspondent
Moscow
Additional reporting by Michael J Gething JDW Aerospace Consultant
London

Russia’s Ufa Machinery-building Production Organisation (UMPO) says it has won the Indian government tender to supply AL-55 jet engines for production versions of India’s HJT-36 Sitara basic jet trainer aircraft.

Designed and built by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), the prototype aircraft first flew on 7 March 2003 powered by a French Snecma Larzac 04-H20 non-afterburning turbofan engine.

According to Valery Lesunov, UMPO general director, contract signature between Russia’s Rosoboronexport state weapons export agency and the Indian government was due at the end of May. The deal, worth $200 million, covers the supply of 250 engines, Lesunov told JDW.

Other sources say only 180 engines will be bought. India requires 211 HJT-36 trainers (187 for the air force and 24 for the navy). HAL received its initial contract (for 16 Sitaras for the air force) in February 2003.

The engine contract calls for AL-55 deliveries to start in 2005. According to Lesunov, the Indian tender for engines on the HJT-36, initiated in early April, pitted the AL-55 against the Larzac.

The AL-55, still in development by LPO Saturn’s Moscow Engineering Centre (formerly the Lyul’ka-Saturn design house), was offered at a lower price and “under a more attractive financial scheme of deliveries”, Lesunov said. It is based on the technology used by the NPO Saturn AL-31F turbofan, which powers Sukhoi Su-27/ Su-30-series fighters.

UMPO already builds AL-31F/FP engines for India’s Su-30K and Su-30MKI fighters and is offering the AL-55 for retrofit on India’s HAL-built MiG-27ML fighter-bombers.

The company has well-established links with the Indian industry through the Tumansky R-25/ R-13/R-11 engines, which power the Indian Air Force’s MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 tactical aircraft. UMPO built these engines and continues to support them at its service centre in India.

India has yet to select which of the AL-55’s four versions it requires:

– the basic 2,500kgf (5,511 lb st) non-augmented AL-55;

– the AL-55V version with thrust-vectored control (TVC);

– the augmented AL-55F delivering 3,500kgf (7,716 lb st) with reheat; or

– the afterburning variant with TVC, designated AL-55FV.

Date Posted: 25-May-2004

JANE’S DEFENCE WEEKLY – JUNE 02, 2004

——————————————————————————–

Russia seeks component contracts on Kaveri engine
Henry Ivanov JDW Correspondent
Moscow
Additional reporting Michael J Gething JDW Aerospace Consultant
London

As a result of their continuing work on the testing and rectification programme for India’s indigenously developed GTX-35VS Kaveri turbofan engine, Russian companies are seeking production contracts to manufacture some critical components.

The Kaveri turbofan is intended to power later production versions of the Indian Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

Developed by India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment in Bangalore, with help from Russian and Western organisations, the Kaveri is being refined and tested in Russia under a contract awarded in 2002. Flight trials in Russia will be on board a Tu-16 modified as a testbed.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) plans to have its first Tejas squadron operational by the end of 2005. It is the intended replacement for MiG-21/-23 and Jaguar tactical aircraft in the IAF inventory. India initially requires 200 single-seat and 20 trainer variants of Tejas for the air force, with possibly 40 single-seat carrier-capable aircraft for the Indian Navy. Some sources indicate an overall requirement for 500 aircraft by 2010.

The LCA project has had a long gestation. It received governmental approval in 1983 but the design was not confirmed until 1990. Programme slippages were exacerbated by a US embargo on components and assistance between May 1998 and September 2001. The first LCA technology demonstrator, powered by a US General Electric F404-GE-F2J3 turbofan, eventually flew on 4 January 2001. The Kaveri is considered unlikely to be ready until 2007.

The delays in the Kaveri programme resulted in India ordering a further 40 F404 engines in 2002 to power the five prototypes and about eight initial production aircraft.

The unit cost of a production Tejas LCA is estimated between $18.4 million and $19.6 million.

*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. It is being made available without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance their understanding of arms trade activities, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. I believe that this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use,’ you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml