Defence - The Jet Engine Search

Can India find partners to develop indigenous engines for its fighter jets? Global jet engine manufacturers are circling Delhi, drawn by the prospect of massive purchases

- Pradip R. Sagar

THERE’S A SUDDEN ROAR of jet engines in the air. What is fuelling it is India’s airpower expansion plan and a pressing need for engines of required power for its homemade fighters.

Last week, US defence aircraft major Boeing announced in New Delhi that the company anticipates business worth $3.6 billion, benefitting the Indian aerospace and defence industry over the next 10 years, with the F/ A-18 Super Hornet as India’s next naval carrier-based fighter. French major Dassault Aviation has pitched its Rafale-M jets against the US’s Super Hornet.

In the first week of July, Olivier Andries, CEO of France’s Safran Group, met defence minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi and apprised him of his company’s long-term goal for the joint development and production of advanced jet engines. Safran—one of the major original equipment manufacturers (OEM) of military and commercial jet engines in the world—makes engines for the Rafale jets. Its Snecma M88 engine, used in Indian Rafales, has a maximum thrust of about 75kN (kilonewtons).

The Indian Air Force (IAF) has opened its hunt for 114 multi-role fighters while the Navy needs approximately 30 carrier-based fighter jets. Their combined value? Some $20 billion. The IAF also requires close to 600 India-made fighters for its fleet, all of which would require over 2,300 engines, assuming a spare ratio of 1.5 engines/ installed engine. Moreover, the Sukhoi fleet of 282 jets will also go in for engine retrofit in the years to come. Importing all these engines will involve a significant spend of India’s foreign exchange.