Kaveri Engine Variant to Power Indian Unmanned Strike Aircraft

A variant of India's indigenously developed Kaveri jet engine will be used to power the Indian unmanned combat aircraft named Aura. On...

A variant of India's indigenously developed Kaveri jet engine will be used to power the Indian unmanned combat aircraft named Aura.
On Dec 10, in written reply to a parliamentary question, defense minister AK Anthony said a derivative of the Kaveri can power India’s Unmanned Strike Air Vehicle (USAV), planned to enter service by 2020.
According to the Business Standard , India has no choice but to use a dry (unreheated) version of the Kaveri in the USAV because the international Missile Technology Control Regime bars the export of engines for unmanned aircraft with ranges more than 300km.

GTRE Kaveri Jet Engine

Under development by India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), the Kaveri’s afterburning thrust is less than designed and well short of that needed to power the overweight Light Combat Aircraft Tejus, but its dry (unreheated) thrust is adequate to power the under-10-tonne USAV, the report says.
The Business Standard says tests at Russia’s Gromov Flight Research Institute, mounted on an Il-76 flying testbed, showed the Kaveri’s afterburning thrust is 15,800lb, versus the planned 18,200lb. But dry thrust was almost 11,100lb, close to the planned 11,500lb.
The Kaveri turbofan engine has been under development at the GTRE since March 1989. Anthony, in his written reply, says 2,200hr of ground and altitude testing have been completed on nine Kaveri prototype engines plus four Kabini core prototypes. In Russia, the engine was flown to Mach 0.7 and almost 40,000ft over 27 flights totalling 57hr.
Development was scheduled to be completed in December 1996 at a projected cost of $69.5 million (Rs.382.81 Crore). But because of technical failures and delays, the program was extended and its cost revised to $515 million, of which $362million has been spent so far, says Anthony.
Because of the Kaveri’s failure, the Tejas Mk1 is powered by an imported 19,000lb-thrust GE F404-IN20. But the aircraft is overweight and underpowered, so an enlarged Mk2 version is planned powered by a 22,000lb-thrust GE F414-INS6.
India’s USAV, meanwhile, looks a lot like Europe’s Dassault-led Neuron unmanned combat-aircraft technology demonstrator , which made its first flight in France in early December. The Neuron demonstrator is powered by a 9,000lb-thrust Rolls-Royce Turbomeca Adour.