New Delhi: In a massive boost to indigenous defence technology, a private start-up is inching closer to developing an indigenous engine to power cruise missiles and larger unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), that could stop the country’s dependence on foreign firms.
The Hyderabad-headquartered Paninian India Private Limited, has completed the “conceptual validation” of its 4.5 KN Turbojet Engine and the prototype development has started.
“We are not doing reverse engineering but we are creating an entire family of aero engines that will be able to power everything from cruise missiles to large UAVs,” Paninian founder Raghu Adla said.
The engine is further being developed into a new family in the range of 3-12 kilo newtons (kN) thrust, along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) augmented digital twin companions.
AI augmented Digital Twins are meant for legacy engine performance modelling and prognostics for supporting mission performance and life extension efforts for aircraft like Jaguar, Sukhoi and Mirage 2000 of the Indian Air Force.
“This can now serve as a tool to study the extension of engines and greatly assist the IAF and CEMILAC [Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification] in their study of performance degradation,” Adla, a first generation entrepreneur, said.
Such Digital Twins — required for cutting-edge prognostics, engine health and performance monitoring — have been conceived entirely from scratch in the country by Indian engineers, he said, adding that India can carry out life extension of engines locally and accurately without resorting to foreign assistance.
While Paninian has started setting up an actual test bed for its engine, the plan ahead is for the individual parts of the engine to undergo 2,000 hours of testing at the National Aerospace Laboratory. Adla decided to work on the project following the 2019 Balakot strike and the subsequent skirmish between the Indian and Pakistani air forces.
For the start-up, he hired Gantayata Gouda, a former senior scientist and programme director in DRDO, along with others who have worked in propulsion and structural engineering with leading global engine manufacturers like General Electrics and Rolls Royce.
This innovation could go a long way in the “Make in India” programme to make the country “Atmanirbhar” in the strategic field of aero engines, he said.
