Breaking on Tarmak007: DRDO's Diwali gift! Kaveri passess critical tests onboard IL-76 in Russia
Tarmak007 -- A bold blog on Indian defence: Breaking on Tarmak007: DRDO's Diwali gift! Kaveri passess critical tests onboard IL-76 in Russia
Barely a month after the DRDO announced that the Tejas Mk-11 will powered by GE-414 power plant, there's some good news for the devotees of desi defence products. The Kaveri engine has finally passed the critical tests onboard IL-76 in Russia on November 3.
Russian sources confirmed to Tarmak007 late on Wednesday night that the tests results were extremely positive.
"This is a huge sigh of relief for the Indian side as the platform had its share of problems earlier. We are waiting for the final trial parameters, but I can confirm to you that the Indian engine has finally proved all necessary test points. It's a huge technologocal breakthrough for India," a source tells.
DRDO officials are tight-lipped about the development and didn't want to comment on the historic achievement on the even of Diwali. A formal announcement is expected to be out today/soon/any moment from Delhi.
The Indian government had earlier this August had announced in Parliament that the Kaveri engine testing under simulated altitude and forward speed conditions were completed successfully in February 2010. "Another engine has been integrated with IL-76 aircraft at Gromov Flight Research Institute, Moscow for ground and flight test which is expected to complete by October 2010," the government had said in August, even giving out the reasons for the delay.
GTRE scientists and engineers couldn't have asked for a better Diwali gift, considering the non-stop battering they received from all corners, for the inordinate delay in developing Kaveri for Tejas.
