Kaveri & Aero-Engine: News & Discussion

[Pratyush]

The Boeing MQ 25A as an unmanned tanker is powered by a 44 Kn turbofan and has a range of 500 nautical miles with 6.8 tons of transfer fuel.

Kaveri makes an Indian development of unmanned tanker with similar capacity viable.

[Prem Kumar]

What I find baffling is this:

Kaveri did not achieve enough thrust to power Tejas. No shame in that - it was a stretch goal anyway.

But for 2 decades, there has been talk of how a lower thrust Kaveri or its variants or the tech-knowhow gained can be used to power everything from UAVs to Ships (marine Kaveri)

We have not brought out a working product in even one of these spin-offs. That's truly shameful and is an epic fail by GTRE. There seems to be a complete lack of vision in capturing even a slightly lower rung in the value chain

[basant]

GTRE did miracles with peanuts thrown at them. If anyone wanted it in production, the services for instace given the strategic importance, they would be have batted for them rather than battering they did sitting on the sidelines. Is that what any other AF did in any country that today has a working engine?

The nicest thing that can be said about IAF leadership is that they like imported toys. Anyone who disagrees can do a web search to find which ex-service chief is on bail for corruption charges. Since 2018!

[maitya]

Upping the thread with the following nugget:

India’s 5th-gen fighter, the AMCA, looks to move off the drawing board and into the air
...
DRDO officials say: “The F-414 engine generates up to 98 KiloNewtons (KN) thrust, which effectively degrades to 90 KN in Indian climatic conditions. We have calculated that an AMCA, with the configuration the IAF has specified, requires a thrust of 220 KN (in Indian conditions) for super-cruising. That means it requires twin engines, each generating 110 KN thrust.
...

Guess, that should explain the flat-rating requirement for Kaveri, but not for other imported TFs.

Also for those who cry hoarse about 73-75KN (wet) achieved by K9 etc, think again - just how much do you think F404s would be actually achieving in same "indian climatic conditions", while it's shiny brochure 82-83KN thrust claims.
And what about their dry-thrust claims vs actual achieved in sqn services, hain jee ...

[pravula]

What are "Indian conditions"? Hot and high? Hot, dry and high?