Kaveri Engine Set for Major Leap with New Funding, BrahMos Afterburner and Testing on Tejas Fighter Jet

India's long-standing ambition to develop its own fighter jet engine is set for a significant advancement, as the Ministry of Defence is expected to approve new funding for the Kaveri Engine programme.

This crucial financial injection will accelerate the development of an indigenous afterburner by BrahMos Aerospace and pave the way for integrating and flight-testing the engine on a Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.

The initiative is a major component of India's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) policy, which aims to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign-built engines that currently power its fleet of fighter jets, such as the American General Electric F404.

At the heart of this development is the Kaveri Engine Derivative (KDE), a project by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE).

The engine, in its non-afterburning or 'dry' form, is primarily designed to power the DRDO's advanced Ghatak stealth Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV). This dry variant has already demonstrated a stable thrust of approximately 49 to 51 kilonewtons (kN).

The programme will now enter a critical phase with the development of a new afterburner, a system that injects additional fuel to dramatically increase thrust for combat manoeuvres and supersonic flight.

In a notable expansion of its role beyond supersonic missiles, BrahMos Aerospace has been tasked with engineering this afterburner. The goal is to add around 29 kN of thrust, potentially elevating the engine's total output to nearly 80 kN, making it a viable power plant for manned fighter aircraft.

To validate its real-world performance, the Kaveri engine with the new afterburner will be integrated into an older Limited Series Production (LSP) prototype of the Tejas fighter jet.

This flying testbed will allow engineers to gather vital data on the engine's capabilities in dynamic, high-altitude flight conditions. The success of these trials will be a proof-of-concept for the engine's design and reliability.

While the project has gained momentum, engineers are focused on overcoming key technical challenges, primarily reducing the engine's weight, which currently stands at around 1,180 kg, to be more competitive with foreign counterparts like the GE F404 (approximately 1,035 kg).

Industry experts believe this is a pivotal moment for India's aerospace and defence sector. The collaboration between DRDO, BrahMos, and private sector partners like Godrej Aerospace signifies a strengthening indigenous defence ecosystem.

Successful flight trials could provide a pathway to upgrade India's existing Tejas Mk1A fleet with a domestically produced engine and serve as the foundation for the more ambitious Kaveri 2.0.

This future version, aiming for a 95 kN thrust class, is slated to power next-generation aircraft, including the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), positioning India as a significant player in the global aerospace market.

 

India’s canisterised missiles can carry multiple N-warheads

HAL Confirms Tejas Mk2 Structural Assembly Progressing Smoothly, Reinforces A Steadfast Commitment to 2026 Prototype Rollout

[R. Singh]

Select Rolls Royce engine for Tejas-1A ,MWF and AMCA to be jointly made by Indian firms and Rolls Royce with 100 % TOT and with IP rights ! 90+ KN engine for Tejas-1A 103 KN engine for MWF and ORCA and 120+ KN engine for AMCA ! Stop USA delaying our fighter jet program !

 

[Jalpan]

At the moment government should give approval to purchase at least 20 to 25 Russian made SU-57 in order to avoid two front war. Side by side government along with DRDO and private sectors should focus on developing indigenous engine as fast as possible.

 

[Dr K Sham Sunder]

Someone dealing with the weight reduction of the engine may like to contact me. I may be of some help.

Prior to joining ADA, for the LCA project, I happen to work on PTAE-7 engine development. Having just returned from my Doctoral work on rotating structures, I was able to help control the weight of the engine, right in the first go. Also, I do feel that the country has state of the art capability in structural analysis & optimisation.

For information.

Dr K Sham Sunder
Outstanding Scientist & a former Project Director of ADA

 

[sanket]

Good, that means GTRE is very confident about integrating it on the single-engine LSP Tejas instead of the twin-engine MiG-29. If it generates close to 80 kN thrust with the afterburner developed by BrahMos Aerospace, it will be a good achievement. From there, it can be refined and fine-tuned further with weight reduction and enhanced thrust up to 90 kN. I'm waiting for this integration on one of the LSPs with an afterburner and the results of the thrust generation. I hope all this would have been done between 2016 to 2025 so it would have been ready for the desired 90 kN thrust to integrate on Tejas Mk1A and ended the GE engine delivery drama which is currently a major issue.

 

[P.K Senapati]

Complete the flight test of the Kaveri dry KDE in an Il-76 testbed in Russia as soon as possible and offer it for Tejas installation and further flight tests. Parallelly, develop the Afterburner module, integrate it with Kaveri, conduct ground tests, simulated altitude tests, then flight tests on the Il-76, and lastly, integrate it with LCA Tejas Mk1.

 

[Rinku Pandey]

Great news! The Kaveri engine will be a reality on the Mk1A sooner than later. No more orders for GE F404 or GE F414 should be placed now. Atmanirbhar Bharat is the way to go. Even if they produce lower thrust and have more weight, they should be used, but development must carry on to increase their thrust-to-weight ratio until they surpass Western engines.

 

[Sandeep]

The KED is a great brand new engine and is showing a lot of good progress as it has passed all of its simulated high altitude. Now they need to be tested on an actual flight by a drone or even a jet but without an afterburner.

India should 100% indigenously design, develop and manufacture a brand new jet engine that can replace the F404 that’s currently in use. They need to create a brand new engine and core completely from the start and learning what we have from the original Kaveri engine research.