Govt likely to give final nod soon to India’s fighter jet engine project with France

New Delhi, Sep 11 The Central government is likely to give the final go-ahead soon for a joint project between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and French aerospace major Safran to develop and manufacture an advanced jet engine to power India’s indigenous fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

The engine project, with 100 per cent transfer of technology, is aimed at developing and producing advanced 120-kilonewton engines in India for the twin-engine Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and future platforms.

According to senior officials, DRDO will soon move the proposal to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for final approval. The new engine project, to be executed with DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), is estimated to cost around $7 billion

The development comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlining the importance of indigenous development of jet engines in his Independence Day speech.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also stated recently that the government has taken steps to move ahead with the proposal to build an indigenous fifth-generation fighter aircraft.

“We have also moved towards manufacturing the aircraft’s engine in India itself. We are about to start engine manufacturing work in India with the French company Safran,” Singh said at a media event in Delhi.

In May, the Defence Minister had approved the prototype design for the AMCA, a major step towards strengthening India’s ability to develop advanced combat aircraft indigenously.

PM Modi has given a strong push for an indigenous aircraft engine because this is high-level defence technology with significant civilian spin-offs. Private companies such as the Tata group, Adani Defence and L&T are also expected to pitch in for the national effort.

The project will take India into the elite club of nations that includes the US, Russia, the UK and France, which have the capacity to design, develop and produce their own aircraft engines. China still does not have its own technology to manufacture aircraft engines and uses Russian engines or reverse-engineered engines for its front-line fighter jets.

The Indian Navy will also get its twin-engine deck-based fighter with the more powerful Safran-GTRE jet engine for its aircraft carrier strike force as the country moves ahead with the creation of a blue water strategy.

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