From correspondents in Delhi, India, 09:31 PM IST
Catapulting India into the elite club of marine gas turbine producers, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has modified the Kaveri engine, meant for powering the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) enable it propel naval ships.
With this, India joins an exclusive club that includes the US, Russia, Britain and the Ukraine.
'The Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE at) Bangalore has come up with a modified marine version, as a spin off during research, to develop shaft power for propelling Indian naval ships,' a defence ministry statement said Thursday.
The modified engine is made by using the core of the Kaveri engine.
'The scientists added the core of Kaveri engine to a low pressure compressor and turbine as a gas generator to design a free power turbine for maritime applications,' the statement said.
The engine has been transported to the Naval Dockyard at Visakhapatnam for testing.
'The engine has the potential of propelling the Rajput class of destroyers of the Indian Navy,' the statement added.
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A host of tests and trial runs, under diverse sets of operating/ environmental conditions is required for gas turbines before they can be fitted on for powering LCAs,ships. The faults if any in design and construction of the engines and their components will be exposed at this stage.We wish our great DRDO,with their outstanding performance of R&D,will get their products proven in this process.May God give them all the necessary insights to do so.
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