tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post8750880755978682835..comments2024-03-23T09:25:42.029-07:00Comments on Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.: Ashton Carter to face Indian demand for engine technologyBroadswordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-13451169874781765462015-06-05T09:18:51.987-07:002015-06-05T09:18:51.987-07:00India always aspired to get technology from abroad...India always aspired to get technology from abroad for defence equipment. The expectations appears to be more from western countries including US. During last decade, a majority of defence contracts have been finalized with American companies especially Boeing & Lockheed with 30% Offset. A lot of contracts also have been signed on Govt to Govt basis. Govt of India pays 15-20% extra for Offsets. Insignificant technology or work has come to India in the name of Offsets. These should be investigated. It's high time Indian Govt should start dictating its terms and conditions to get technology and work in the areas we need. China has done it for commercial aircraft and developed its own regional jets. <br /><br />DRDO bureaucracy is highly irresponsible and has done very little. LCA, LCH, ALH should be inducted in armed forces immediately on topmost priority. HAL and other defence PSU's should be put under administrative and functional control of Armed forces. Export of Steel, Aluminum and Titanium ores should be stopped and only finished state of material vis Rods, sheets, plates etc should be exported. Govt should create infrastructure to set up production facility for high grade materials required to produce high tech equipment. <br /><br />We need some strategic planning and decision for make in India. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-66126988542774337932015-06-04T03:35:27.008-07:002015-06-04T03:35:27.008-07:00Few corrections in this article
- MTBO of a GE 41...Few corrections in this article<br /><br />- MTBO of a GE 414 engine is 2000+ hours and several programs are under-way (EDE) to increase this to 4000 hours and beyond.<br />- Wet Thrust rating of the F414-GE-INS6 (LCA Mk2 power plant) will be in the high nineties KN range. Dry thrust will be near 68 KN.<br />- GE has already developed an EPE (Enhanced Performance Engine) version of GE 414 which provides 20% thrust increase (80 KN Dry & 114 KN Wet Thrust) by using a two stage blade-disk fan. The other option is to increase MTBO in lieu of the increased thrust. There was also an earlier version called the EDE (Enhanced Durability Engine) which provided a 15% thrust increase. <br /><br />Also, Wet thrust is not a very useful concept as it is only used upon emergency. Fuel consumption for producing Wet Thrust is on an average 6-8X over Dry thrust. Not sure why Indian website salivate over wet thrust.<br /><br />Can you share what happened to the Indian jet program (Kaveri)? Last i heard, it was producing lesser-than-designed-thrust and was overweight by 150 kgs but India had developed certain key jet engine technologies!!! Why isn't the Kaveri being put on a Mig 29 and tested big time??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-10399457176415317622015-06-04T00:17:26.325-07:002015-06-04T00:17:26.325-07:00Mr. Parthasarathi, licence-production is not the s...Mr. Parthasarathi, licence-production is not the same as technology transfer. It only means GE taught Volvo how to 'fix the screws' in a GE-F414 engine.Abhimannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-27100665063474518432015-06-03T08:21:16.039-07:002015-06-03T08:21:16.039-07:00Mr Shukla, a nice article as always but you have a...Mr Shukla, a nice article as always but you have a glaring mistake in your assessment of modern western engine life. The General Electric F414 engine has a long turbine life that is designed around the airframe itself. The overhauls for the existing of the shelf General Electric F414s has been set at approximately 4000 cycles, which translates to between 3000 and 4000 hours of average fighter use. A cycle can be anywhere between 1 hour to 1.5 hour depending how many throttle movements are performed etc. Once the engine is overhauled it is inspected again at 6000 cycles (or an additional 1500-2000 hours of usage), and then overhauled as and when required. The west has long required jet engines for high end combat aircraft to have a life that tracks well with the airframe design life. <br /><br />Early in this Century, GE developed a new compressor for the GE F414 family that would have extended the overhaul period from 4000 cycles to 6000 cycles (approximately 5000-6000 hours of use) and have been offering this as the Enhanced Durability upgrade option for existing GE F414 engines. The larger engines for the F-15 and F-16 family have already been upgraded to 6000 hour overhaul. <br /><br />The higher thrust engine that India is seeking, will reduce the overhaul from 4000 hours to 2000 hours since the thrust increase from 22 thousand to 26 thousand is achieved partly because if higher temperatures in the core, however the overall life of the engine should remain unchanged (just more maintenance would be added because of higher performance). <br /><br />http://www.geaviation.com/press/military/military_20010617b.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-60135062136203741272015-06-02T21:34:25.409-07:002015-06-02T21:34:25.409-07:00Totally wrong on the Engine life. The F414 require...Totally wrong on the Engine life. The F414 requires overhauls at 4000 hours (aprox) now. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-15514307071862967632015-06-02T15:41:24.311-07:002015-06-02T15:41:24.311-07:00Sir,
According to the website of GE. ( http://www....Sir,<br />According to the website of GE. ( http://www.geaviation.com/engines/docs/military/datasheet-F414-Enhanced.pdf) they have aleatory developed a 116 KN. thrust class F414 engine. Named F 414 enhanced engine ! So they have the technology but whether they will share it with us or not is another question ! Just for a info. Gripen's engine is licence built. ( Swedish Volvo licence make) So technology sharing is nothing new to GE. <br />Another point " fighter engine’s life is about 1,500 hours" that may be true for Russians engines like RD 33 ( Mig 29 ) but not so sure about the western engines ! It is just assumption. Though the TBO. of of western engines is around 1000 Hrs. But they overhaul the engine not changing !<br />Regards.Parthasarathihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07701421388606152443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-46398726372126420402015-06-01T23:09:29.906-07:002015-06-01T23:09:29.906-07:00If I were Ashton Carter, I WOULD NOT GIVE AN IOTA ...If I were Ashton Carter, I WOULD NOT GIVE AN IOTA OF MY TECH SECRETS !!<br /><br />Seriously, are we fooling ourselves ? Why should we expect the US to just give away their top-secret technologies to India ? They've spent decades and many billions of dollars in perfecting this technology. They have the absolute right to keep the cards close to their chests, and only export the finished product i.e. the GE-F414 engine.<br /><br />If India thinks it will threaten the spectre of deteriorating relations, were engine tech. not be handed over to them, its dead wrong. Keeping your top-secret technology -- for which you've laboured hard -- is your right, and gives your nation a well-deserved technological and military edge.<br /><br />The US can read the riot act to India, and tell it to bugger off.<br /><br />____________________<br /><br />What will eventually happen is what happened in case of the older GE-F404. US will only export these to India (without Tech. transfer) for its Tejas Mk.2; American engineers will help in their integration on a new fighter jet. There won't be any issue over spare parts though, unlike in case of Russian hardware, which was a nightmare (pun intended).Abhimannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-13905842138569439662015-06-01T21:31:47.179-07:002015-06-01T21:31:47.179-07:00stupid ideastupid ideakulari94noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-13060581222162330362015-06-01T19:29:58.781-07:002015-06-01T19:29:58.781-07:00Submarines and jets are game changers, so they nee...Submarines and jets are game changers, so they need to be the highest tech available. German and Japanese subs are the among the best available and US jets or the tech are the best options. India should get these weapons for its defense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-6498714265087219002015-06-01T16:25:34.887-07:002015-06-01T16:25:34.887-07:00Its silly to expect this, it will never happen. In...Its silly to expect this, it will never happen. Indians will have to stand on their own feet. Girishnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-24155390914831059642015-06-01T15:31:01.134-07:002015-06-01T15:31:01.134-07:00Well, Carter may/may not agree to share the engine...Well, Carter may/may not agree to share the engine technology. It shouldn't be taken with such intense expectation. As it is, there are many engine manufacturers which are salivating at this prospect of nearly 60 billion usd market. GE's loss would be their fortune. So let it become an open tender because that's how you come to know that F-18 is inferior to Rafale. Let the best engine and better firm win the engine contracts too.Rajannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-33395536178142443342015-06-01T02:07:13.226-07:002015-06-01T02:07:13.226-07:00Yes This technology is need of hour. Hope America...Yes This technology is need of hour. Hope Americans agree. I think for them it makes perfect business sense.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15560977864845154580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-74067731201081984872015-06-01T01:23:53.609-07:002015-06-01T01:23:53.609-07:00An interesting article that went completely wonky ...An interesting article that went completely wonky at "<i>fighter engine’s life is about 1,500 hours</i>". <br /><br />You're thinking of Russian engines that have miserable service lives and MTBOs even for their latest products. In contrast, Western types have have been able to match and very often exceed the service life of the airframe, for decades now. The latest F135 engine (on the F-35) is guaranteed to an equivalent of 8,000hrs of operations (NATO AFs clock usage in engine cycles not hours). <br /><br />Our Mirages are another apt example of that. Thirty years of operations on the same engine. With no re-engening included in the ongoing MLU, the engine will continue to run for another 15 years.Viv Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-68414223529987177552015-05-31T19:34:18.637-07:002015-05-31T19:34:18.637-07:00Is the IN planning on giving him a tour of the INS...Is the IN planning on giving him a tour of the INS Arihant, since it is probably docked at Vizag?<br /><br />One way for India to build trust hain ji?Gagannoreply@blogger.com