Category: atmanirbharta

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833: THE BATTLE FOR THRUST: INDIA’S QUEST FOR INDIGENOUS JET ENGINES

 

Article published in the Aug 26 edition of the “Life Of Soldier” Magazine. 

 

 

The commercial discussions between GE Aerospace and India for the F414 have hit a serious roadblock. The per-unit cost has reportedly nearly tripled, from an initial estimate of approximately ₹70-80 crore to well over ₹200 crore. Moreover, the critical technologies, including the Full Authority Digital Engine Control system, are reported to remain under GE’s control. The Tejas Mk-2, the AMCA, and the Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter have all been built around the F414’s specific dimensions, meaning any switch now entails a structural redesign, new air-intake engineering, and full recertification that takes years.

Only a small group of countries, including the United States, Russia, France, and the United Kingdom, possesses the technological capability to independently design and manufacture advanced military and civilian aircraft engines. Despite decades of effort, India remains dependent on foreign suppliers for fighter aircraft engines. This dependence represents perhaps the single most important technological vulnerability in India’s aerospace ecosystem. The Kaveri programme, which was meant to resolve the problem, did not do so. Understanding why it did not and what it would genuinely take to do so is the most important defence-industrial question India currently faces.

 

Engine Development Challenges. Aero engines are among the most sophisticated engineering systems ever developed. Modern jet engines operate under extreme temperatures and pressures while delivering high efficiency, reliability, and performance. Developing a high-performance military turbofan is arguably the most complex engineering challenge in modern industry. It requires the precise synchronisation of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, advanced metallurgy, and digital controls. The engine must operate reliably under extreme conditions, with turbine entry temperatures that frequently exceed the melting points of its components. The four technologies that need to be focused on are: –

    • Advanced Hot-Section Metallurgy to manufacture single-crystal turbine blades.
    • Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) to prevent advanced alloys from failing at temperatures exceeding 1,500°C.
    • Aerothermal Design and Core Codes to design codes to predict airflow, flame stability, and thermal stress accurately, enabling independent modifications and derivative engine designs.
    • Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) to manage everything from fuel metering to variable stator vanes in real-time.

 

 

Kaveri Experience

The Gas Turbine Research Establishment in Bengaluru began developing the Kaveri engine in the mid-1980s. The mandate was to develop an indigenous turbofan capable of producing around 80 kilonewtons of thrust with afterburner. The original completion target was 1996, which was later extended to 2009. The engine did not achieve the required thrust-to-weight ratio. Development challenges included compressor efficiency, turbine blade durability, excessive engine weight, and inadequate afterburner performance.  The programme reached a development plateau with a thrust level of approximately 73 kilonewtons. It was formally decoupled from the Tejas programme in 2008. The GE F404 was adopted as the primary powerplant.

But the Kaveri program was not a total waste. It produced important assets, including indigenous FADEC work, certified materials, accumulated engine test hours, and experience in integration and high-altitude testing. It created India’s first indigenous knowledge base in turbine engine design. It established testing facilities, trained engineers, developed computational design capability, and exposed India’s scientific community to the realities of high-performance propulsion engineering. Recent progress includes continued development of Kaveri derivatives for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) such as the Ghatak.

Effect of Technology Denial. Western nations imposed severe restrictions on sensitive technology transfer after India’s nuclear tests. These adversely affected India’s engine development challenges. India’s nuclear tests in 1998, in particular, triggered a period of comprehensive sanctions that froze several cooperative technology relationships at a particularly sensitive moment in the Kaveri programme’s development. Later, India was admitted to the Missile Technology Control Regime in 2016 and the Wassenaar Arrangement in the same year, and to the Australia Group and the Nuclear Suppliers Group waiver arrangement in earlier periods. These admissions improved India’s position as a purchaser of controlled technology. They did not automatically transfer the knowledge embedded in the manufacturing processes.  This reflects a broader reality: countries rarely transfer technologies that determine long-term military competitiveness.

 

 

Global Approach

Nations capable of manufacturing aircraft engines show that successful aero-engine ecosystems rely on long-term national commitment. The US combined wartime demand, government-funded research, a competitive industry, and strong collaborations among government, academia, industry, and military to build a competitive engine sector. France also followed a state-led approach. It regarded engine development as a strategic sovereign task and ensured programme continuity and the preservation of knowledge. The UK focused on excellence in materials science and turbine engineering. The government, on the other hand, helped to prevent setbacks such as Rolls-Royce’s near-collapse. Russia gave priority to self-reliance. It incurred high costs to maintain specialised design bureaus and industrial infrastructure. It took China 40 years to progress from the WS-10 to the WS-15 engines. China’s perseverance highlights the importance of continued investment, iterative learning, and constant policy support. Analysis of these approaches reveals four universal lessons: –

    • National self-sufficiency in propulsion is vital for national security.
    • Institutional continuity & state support are essential to preserve knowledge and retain institutional expertise.
    • Strategic Patience and project funding are required to achieve sovereignty despite slow initial results.
    • Synergistic ecosystems demand long-term partnerships among government, academia, R&D establishments, and private manufacturers.

 

Renewed Indian Effort: National Aero Engine Mission

Forty-four years after the Gas Turbine Research Establishment first began serious work on what became the Kaveri engine, India has launched something with a different institutional character. The National Aero Engine Mission was formalised in February 2026. NAEM is not another laboratory programme with an open-ended timeline. It is an organisational structure designed to coordinate amongst the agencies involved in aircraft engine development and manufacture. The ₹61,000-crore initiative aims to achieve self-reliance (Aatmanirbharta) in the design, development, and manufacturing of high-thrust fighter jet engines. Driven by the Gas Turbine Research Establishment, the mission aims to break decades of import dependence by 2035.

Task. The task of NAEM is cut out. Develop a defined product with a hard operational deadline, not a research thrust target, or a demonstrator. An engine with a specified performance envelope, a specified platform application, and a date by which it must be ready for flight testing, with the aircraft programme formally committed to using it. The Tejas Mk-2 and the AMCA are the obvious candidates. The AMCA, in particular, intended to be India’s first fifth-generation fighter, will require an engine in the 110-kilonewton class. If that engine is not developed indigenously, India will be forced to import the powerplant for its most strategically sensitive aircraft programme, thereby recreating exactly the dependency the AMCA is meant to resolve.

Aims and Objectives of the National Aero Engine Mission. The central aim of the mission is to establish India as an independent aero engine development nation. Key objectives include: –

    • Development of High-Thrust Engines. Co-develop a 120 kN-class engine (scalable to 130–140 kN) primarily for the AMCA Mk2 and future platforms. This engine would enable supercruise, stealth capabilities, high manoeuvrability, and an enhanced payload.
    • Indigenous Manufacturing Ecosystem. Establish domestic capabilities for design, testing, certification, and large-scale production.
    • Testing Infrastructure. The mission would effectuate the timely establishment of the National Aero Engine Test Complex (NAETC) to provide comprehensive ground and high-altitude testing.
    • Human Resources and Skills. Create thousands of specialised jobs in aerospace engineering, materials science, and advanced manufacturing. It will foster a robust talent pipeline through collaborations with academic institutions.
    • Dual-Use Technologies. Advances in high-temperature composites, coatings, and alloys will benefit civil aviation, power generation, and space sectors. India’s booming civil aviation market stands to gain significantly.

 

 

Success Imperatives.

Private sector participation with real accountability is essential to aerospace manufacturing. The Defence Research and Development Organisation’s laboratory structure has proven ill-suited to the iterative, commercially pressured development process required for engine production. A future engine program should integrate advanced manufacturing companies, startups, and research universities. What is needed is a structure in which one or more private sector aerospace companies, properly capitalised and with access to GTRE’s existing knowledge base, take on programme risk alongside the government. This is not a privatisation argument. It is an argument about what kinds of institutional incentives actually produce functional hardware.

A materials and manufacturing foundation is the need of the hour. The turbine blade problem cannot be solved by importing blades and assembling engines around them. India needs domestic capability in single-crystal casting, thermal barrier coatings, and the high-temperature alloy supply chain. Several Indian private-sector metallurgical companies have demonstrated capabilities in these areas.

Technology induction is required to speed up the development process. Structured access to technology through existing partnerships seems to be the only way out. Licence production is not the answer; knowledge of manufacturing methods needs to be shared. Companies such as Rolls-Royce, GE Aviation, Safran, and Pratt & Whitney have their own commercial and contractual reasons for not sharing the deepest layers of their process knowledge. The negotiation of that distinction matters enormously and should be a specific, explicitly stated objective of the technology transfer agreement rather than an outcome hoped for as a byproduct. It won’t be easy, and it won’t be cheap.

 

Concluding Thoughts

India’s aerospace ambitions cannot be fulfilled without mastering aero engine technology. An aero engine takes between fifteen and twenty-five years to move from concept to operational maturity, even under favourable conditions, and considerably longer under unfavourable ones. However, the engine problem is not unsolvable. It is genuinely hard, takes a long time, and requires sustained institutional commitment. France, Britain, the United States and Russia have solved it. China is in the process of solving it.

The success of the National Aero Engine Mission is a non-negotiable national priority. It needs to become India’s next successful strategic technology initiative through dedication, perseverance and institutional support. The Mission will not be judged by its initial test results or its early industry partnerships. It will be judged, a decade or more from now, by whether an Indian fighter is flying on an engine fully owned by India.

 

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References and credits

To all the online sites and channels.

Pics Courtesy: Internet

Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from reliable and accurate sources. All copyrighted material belongs to the respective owners and is provided only for wider dissemination.

 

 

 

References: –

  1. India Today. “India-US GE F414 AMCA fighter jet engine deal in limbo amid nearly 300 per cent increase in cost”. (24 Jun 2026). https://www.indiatoday.in/
  1. New Indian Express. “AMCA engine deal hits roadblock over GE’s threefold price demand”. (24 Jun 2026). https://www.newindianexpress.com/
  1. Times of India. “You have 5-7 years to develop 6th gen aero engines: Rajnath’s challenge for DRDO scientists”. (17 Feb 26). https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
  1. Defence Research and Development Organisation. (n.d.). “Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE)”. Ministry of Defence, Government of India. https://www.drdo.gov.in/labs-establishment/gtre
  1. Ministry of Defence. “Tie-up processes under the National Aero Engine Mission launched”. Press Information Bureau. (2026, February 16). https://pib.gov.in/
  1. Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory. Reports on single-crystal turbine blade technology and near-isothermal forging. DRDO Publications.(2021–2026).
  1. Rao, R. S. Why are engines the bottleneck in fighter jet manufacturing in India? Eurasia Review. (2026). https://www.eurasiareview.com/
  1. Gunston, B. “The development of jet and turbine aero engines” (4th ed.). Haynes Publishing.(2006).
  1. Mattingly, J. D. (2006). “Elements of propulsion: Gas turbines and rockets” (2nd ed.). American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. https://doi.org/10.2514/4.861768
  1. Sarkar, S. (Ed.). “India’s defence industry: Challenges and opportunities”. Routledge. (2020).

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831: INDIA’S EYES IN THE STRATOSPHERE The High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Programme

 

The Defence Acquisition Council’s approval of a ₹52,000 crore package in July 2026, which includes Acceptance of Necessity for Fixed-Wing High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite platforms for the Indian Air Force, closes in on a surveillance gap that has troubled Indian planners for the better part of a decade. The gap sits between what a satellite can offer and what a drone can sustain, and it is this middle band that the FW-HAPS programme is designed to occupy.

HAPS

High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellites are unmanned, fixed-wing aircraft built to operate in the stratosphere, typically between 18 and 20 kilometres. It is roughly double the cruising altitude of a commercial airliner, and comfortably above both civil air traffic and the weather systems that constrain conventional aviation. They are not satellites in any orbital sense. Rather than circling the earth every ninety minutes as a low-earth-orbit satellite does, a HAPS holds station over a single point on the ground, watching it continuously; the term “pseudo-satellite” describes function, not physics.

That persistence is the entire argument for the platform. A satellite crosses a given stretch of border only a handful of times a day, and an adversary choosing when to move will choose the interval between passes. A conventional drone can loiter for a day or two before it needs fuel and a fresh crew. A HAPS can remain on station for weeks or months, low enough to return sharper imagery and a stronger signal than any satellite. It returns to Earth at the end of a mission rather than being abandoned in orbit or lost to re-entry. It also means its sensor payload can be swapped between sorties, something no satellite operator has ever had the luxury of doing.

These platforms can be classified under two broad configurations. Lighter-than-air platforms such as balloons and airships, and heavier-than-air fixed-wing designs of the kind India is pursuing. Fixed-wing solar variants have gained ground globally because they hold station more reliably against variable stratospheric winds.

Necessity

India’s land borders run to more than 15,000 kilometres across neighbours as varied as China, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, much of it through terrain that makes continuous observation difficult by any conventional means. The terrain at these borders includes the high Himalaya, the Rajasthan desert, the forests of the northeast, and the valleys of Jammu and Kashmir. Ground patrols cover limited sectors, satellites revisit a location on a fixed schedule, Manned aircraft are too costly to sustain over long periods, and Drones need to land back for refuelling. HAPS close this gap.

 

Operational Roles

Continuous border surveillance is the most direct military application of HAPS. It can hold station over a sensitive sector for months at a stretch. This allows commanders to read patterns of activity rather than isolated sightings. During periods of heightened tension, it can give early warning of troop concentrations or unusual logistic movement.

As an ISR platform, HAPS carry sensor payloads tailored to the mission — infrared for continuous day-night coverage, radar to see through cloud cover and poor weather — and because they operate far closer to the ground than an orbital platform, the imagery they return is correspondingly sharper without sacrificing persistence. This combination is what makes the platform useful across roles that would otherwise need separate assets: border security, maritime surveillance and counter-terrorism support.

The communications-relay role matters as much for the Indian context as the ISR role does. A HAPS at 20 kilometres functions as an airborne tower capable of relaying voice, video and encrypted data across terrain where ground infrastructure struggles — the Himalayan ranges block radio signals and expose ground stations to extreme weather, and a platform stationed above the region sidesteps both problems, linking forward units, command centres and other surveillance assets into a single network. That role grows more important as network-centric warfare depends on intelligence gathered by one platform reaching every authorised user without delay.

Disaster response is the fourth military-relevant role, and one with obvious civilian overlap. India’s exposure to floods, cyclones, earthquakes and forest fires regularly knocks out communication networks precisely when they are needed most; a HAPS already on station, or one repositioned quickly, can re-establish emergency connectivity and secure links for rescue teams while relaying real-time imagery to emergency management agencies.

Beyond defence, the same platform lends itself to rural broadband, precision agriculture, environmental and fisheries monitoring, and infrastructure inspection. These applications will also matter for how the programme is funded and sustained, even though defence is what is driving its development.

The Global Approach

India is entering a field where other nations have a head start. The United Kingdom (Airbus) has flown the Zephyr. This solar-powered stratospheric aircraft has demonstrated multi-week endurance carrying surveillance and communications payloads. The United States has pursued several HAPS concepts across its defence agencies and private industry, oriented toward intelligence collection, missile warning and battlefield networking. China has invested heavily in solar-powered high-altitude platforms as part of a wider aerospace modernisation effort, a natural extension of its own extensive border and maritime surveillance requirements. Japan and South Korea are pursuing stratospheric aircraft chiefly for communications, disaster response and environmental monitoring. Against this field, India’s programme is a late but not a laggard entry, provided the timeline holds.

India’s Programme

CSIR-NAL in Bengaluru has led India’s indigenous HAPS development, with the explicit aim of building a sovereign capability rather than depending on foreign satellites or foreign drone technology for a mission this sensitive. A subscale demonstrator with a twelve-metre wingspan and a twenty-two-kilogram takeoff weight has flown multiple sorties at DRDO’s Aeronautical Test Range in Challakere, Karnataka, accumulating dozens of flight hours and, in one test, more than eight hours of endurance at altitudes up to 25,000 feet. These trials validated the core technologies the full-scale aircraft will depend on (solar integration, battery management, flight control and propulsion).  The full-scale platform would operate at 20 to 23 kilometres with endurance measured in weeks to months. The stratospheric flight is slated for around 2027. The DAC’s approval, for a ₹52,000 crore package cleared in July 2026, greenlights both continued development and procurement of operational platforms for the Indian Air Force.

 

Concluding Thoughts

The Fixed-Wing High-Altitude Pseudo-Satellite programme represents more than the acquisition of another surveillance platform. It reflects a broader shift in India’s approach to persistent intelligence, resilience and strategic autonomy. In an era where information superiority often determines operational success, the ability to maintain an unbroken watch over sensitive borders and maritime approaches is becoming as valuable as traditional firepower. HAPS occupy the critical space between satellites and conventional aircraft, providing persistence without the prohibitive costs of continuous manned operations or the limitations of orbital revisit cycles. Their dual-use potential further strengthens the investment case, extending benefits beyond defence into disaster management, communications, environmental monitoring and digital connectivity. Yet the programme’s ultimate success will depend not merely on proving that the aircraft can remain aloft for months, but on integrating them seamlessly into India’s wider intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and command-and-control architecture. Indigenous development through CSIR-NAL and DRDO also offers an opportunity to nurture a domestic ecosystem in advanced materials, solar technologies, batteries and autonomous flight systems, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers in a strategically sensitive domain. If the planned timelines are achieved and operational capability follows as envisaged, India’s HAPS programme could emerge not simply as a new airborne asset, but as a defining component of the nation’s future aerospace and security architecture.

 

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Disclaimer:

Information and data included in the blog are for educational & non-commercial purposes only and have been carefully adapted, excerpted, or edited from reliable and accurate sources. All copyrighted material belongs to the respective owners and is provided only for wider dissemination.

References: –

  1. Bisht, I. S. (2026, July 13). India approves high-altitude pseudo satellite to fill surveillance gap. The Defence Post.

https://thedefensepost.com/2026/07/13/high-altitude-pseudo-satellite/

  1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Aerospace Laboratories. (n.d.). HAPS (High Altitude Pseudo Satellite).

https://www.nal.res.in/en/directors

  1. Ministry of Defence. (2026, July 3). *DAC approves capital acquisition proposals worth Rs 52,000 crore*. Press Information Bureau.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2280728

  1. TOI News Desk. (2026, July 4). Flying above weather, watching for weeks: How HAPS will strengthen India’s armed forces. The Times of India.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/defence/news/flying-above-weather-watching-for-weeks-how-haps-will-strengthen-indias-armed-forces/articleshow/132178332.cms

  1. Venkatakrishnan, L. (n.d.). *The CSIR-NAL high altitude platform (HAP)*. Journal of Aerospace Sciences and Technologies. https://www.joast.org/public/journals/1/docs/CSIR_NAL_High_Altitude_Platform_(HAP).pdf
  1. AALTO HAPS. (2025, May 1). Zephyr sets world-record for longest continuous flight, flying 67 days in stratosphere. https://www.aaltohaps.com/zephyr-sets-world-record-for-longest-continuous-flight-flying-67-days-in-stratosphere/

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829: Podcast with Abhinay

Had an interesting chat with Abhinay of Prabhasakshi News Channel.

We talked about: –

  1. New balance of air power in the world today.
  2. Drones and Fighter aircraft.
  3. Different philosophies of Russia’s Su-57 and the U.S.’s F-35.
  4. Future of air warfare
  5. Timelines of indigenous fifth-generation aircraft. (AMCA).
  6. Role of AI in air warfare.
  7. Loyal Wingman drones.
  8. F-35 / Su-57 / AMCA.
  9. Aircraft engine technology development and production.
  10. Export of fighter jets as a geopolitical tool and a source of dependency.
  11. India’s greatest achievements and biggest challenges in terms of defence self-reliance.
  12. Indian Air Force of 2040.
  13. One trend in air warfare over the next 20 years.
  14. Balakot Operations.

 

Value additions are most welcome.

 

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