In a major boost to its indigenous jet engine goals, the Indian government will soon approve a joint project with French aerospace company, Safran, to co-develop a new engine to power its 5th-generation stealth fighter jet.
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), through its Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), will design and manufacture the 120-kilonewton jet engine.
India's own stealth jet
According to Hindustan Times, the joint partnership will develop 9 prototype engines with a time frame of 12 years.
The engines will initially be developed with 120 kilonewton power, with an aim to scale up the capacity to 140 kilonewton by the end of the time period.
Furthermore, Safran will be required to transfer technology and intellectual property rights to India.
The engines are also expected to be used for India’s indigenously developed fighter jets, apart from the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.
The jet engine production will see the participation of private players like the Tata group, L&T and Adani Defence.
The involvement of French expertise will help India bounce back from its decades-long struggle with the Kaveri engine project—which began in the 1980s but never took off.
The push for an indigenous engine again gained traction after India launched a military operation against Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in May this year.
A campaign had begun on the Indian social media, calling on the government to fast-track the development of Indian-made engines.
Taking note, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech, also called for self-reliance in jet engines.
India-France ties
India’s decision to pick Safran is rooted in its historic strategic ties with France.
India and France have a strong and robust defence partnership. Around 33% of Indian imported arms originated from France.
Beteween 2019 and 2023, France emerged as India’s second-largest defence supplier.
While India is sourcing F-404 engines from US firm GE for its Tejas jets, it is learnt that New Delhi avoided relying on Washington for its indigenous engine programme due to past strategic disruptions.
Under the project, the government plans to build five prototypes of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
India has been working on the ambitious AMCA project to develop the medium weight deep penetration fighter jet with advanced stealth features to bolster its air power capability.
AMCA along with the Tejas light combat aircraft are planned to be the mainstays of the Indian Air Force.
