India’s Reliance Industries and British Rolls-Royce have announced their plan to partner on the design, development, and manufacturing of an “indigenous” engine for India’s 5th-Gen Aircraft – AMCA.
Reliance and Rolls-Royce will explore forming a dedicated Aerospace Gas Turbine Complex that will be a center of excellence for power and propulsion technology in India.
The announcement pits Rolls-Royce against France’s Safran, which has also proposed a joint venture with India’s state-run GTRE to develop a higher-thrust engine for AMCA.
While India is looking to partner with Western firms for high-thrust engines, China has managed to achieve what only a handful of countries have — fitting its J-20 stealth fighters with fully indigenous engines.
Interestingly, both India and China started their jet engine programs around the mid-1980s.
China’s WS-15 is now in serial production and powers the stealth J-20 aircraft. This is a big boost for the PLAAF, which is gradually cutting reliance on Russian engines.
India, despite starting early, has not made a breakthrough in high-thrust engine technology.
The LCA Tejas continues to rely on US GE F404 engines; the Tejas Mk2 will use the GE F414 under a licensed production deal, and the AMCA is expected to fly with either Rolls-Royce or Safran, unless there is another major development.
China began the WS-10 turbofan program to replace Soviet/Russian engines. It took them around two decades to master advanced superalloy metallurgy and manufacturing processes, resulting in the production of the WS-10 and newer WS-15 engines for the J-20.
China’s proficiency in jet engine tech, after decades of failure, is now powering the PLAAF’s (Chinese Air Force) aerial capabilities.
India launched the Kaveri engine program under the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), which has partnered with French Safran for AMCA engines. The project has faced multiple delays and funding troubles, unlike Chinese firms.
India’s Aero-Engine Program
India’s journey in building aero-engines has been long and painful. In the early years, state-run HAL mostly made engines under license from foreign companies.
Later, the focus shifted to developing engines completely on its own through the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE). The main story has always revolved around the Kaveri engine. Although the original version struggled, work has now moved to a simpler, dry version of the engine, which is being readied for production—mainly to power drones.
RD-33 engines, which power the MiG-29 fighter jets, are also being manufactured at HAL’s Koraput division in Odisha. This phase provided Indian technicians and engineers with vital hands-on experience in maintenance, repair, and assembly, but did not grant India ownership of the engine’s intellectual property.
In 1986, seeking total sovereignty in critical defense technologies, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) launched the GTX-35VS Kaveri program under GTRE to design and build an indigenous afterburning turbofan engine for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
The program proved one of India’s toughest challenges, as designers faced severe hurdles, particularly in making turbine blades capable of withstanding temperatures exceeding 1,500°C.
Following India’s 1998 nuclear tests, global sanctions badly limited New Delhi’s access to advanced aerospace expertise, forcing researchers to innovate independently.
The breakthrough came at the Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) in Hyderabad. By mastering advanced vacuum investment casting and precise temperature gradients, DMRL achieved a historic milestone in 2021 by indigenously producing single-crystal turbine blades. This highly specialized component prevents blades from stretching or creeping under extreme stress.
While the original afterburning Kaveri was delinked from the primary Tejas production program, it was successfully restructured into a “dry variant” (without an afterburner), producing around 46-48 kN of thrust. The Kaveri Derivative Engine (KDE) is now poised to power Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) such as the DRDO Ghatak.
Companies like Godrej Aerospace began delivering serial-production-standard Kaveri derivative engines (D1) to GTRE, moving from prototype testing to full endurance and qualification trials. While developing a fully indigenous engine remains a national priority, India continues to forge strategic partnerships to learn the critical lessons.
HAL and GE Aerospace finalized a major technical transfer agreement, enabling the co-production of GE F414 engines in India to power the upcoming Tejas MK2 and AMCA fleet.
India’s strategy for a joint venture aero-engine with full intellectual property (IP) ownership centers on co-developing a 120 kN-class combat engine for the AMCA & Mk2 program. Key proposals include complete technology transfer, localized R&D, and launching a dedicated Indian aero-engine ecosystem by the early 2030s.
India vs China
China treated aero-engine development as a top priority with consistent, long-term funding and full political backing. India treated it as just another DRDO project.
China is believed to have spent an estimated $42 billion on its aero-engine program since 1986, while India spent around $239 million on the Kaveri program.
China overcame early metallurgical bottlenecks in turbine-blade superalloys, whereas India is only now addressing them through recent technology transfers from Western partners.
China persevered despite many failures, took risks, and finally succeeded, whereas India remains reliant on imported power plants.
India’s current plan is to work with foreign companies through joint ventures to develop a new engine together. Rather than building everything in-house, the focus is on full technology transfer and know-how.
China pursued a sensible approach and smartly reverse-engineered Russian engines (AL-31F) while developing its own. This gave them a head start and real-world learning. India was too idealistic and tried to develop engines from scratch.
China displayed patience and persistence, following a 25-30-year roadmap with continuous investment. India’s Kaveri program suffered from changing requirements and inconsistent funding.
China had a higher risk appetite, accepted multiple failures and underperforming engines (early WS-10 versions), and kept improving them. India sought success and high performance too quickly, leading to demoralization and repeated setbacks.
China first built a stronger industrial and technological ecosystem with robust supply chains for critical technologies such as single-crystal turbine blades, high-temperature materials, and advanced metallurgy over decades. China sent its bright engineers abroad to learn critical technologies, and the state funded their stay and learning.
After the dissolution of the USSR, China quickly recruited Soviet engineers and employed them with high salaries. India ignored similar offers on ethical grounds, leaving its industrial base in this area weaker than China’s.
Notably, Beijing began with lower-thrust engines and transitioned to advanced engines such as the WS-10, WS-15, and WS-19. India aimed too high, too soon, starting with the Kaveri engine and trying to match powerful Western engines directly. The Chinese model of “slow and steady” finally won the race.
China’s approach was a better model of institutional focus and execution: it first created dedicated organizations and gave them clear targets and accountability. India’s effort was spread over multiple agencies with bureaucratic oversight, delays, and a lack of focused execution.
India’s partnership with Rolls-Royce and Safran for a high-thrust engine for the AMCA signals a sensible shift toward joint ventures that offer full technology transfer and intellectual property ownership, instead of rebuilding the wheel.
By focusing on joint development with leading engine makers that give India full IP ownership and complete technical know-how—instead of limited licensed production—India can close its propulsion gap faster. This will help build a self-reliant ecosystem for independent upgrades and future variants, reduce long-term foreign dependency, and create robust industrial capabilities.
- Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retired) is an Indian Air Force veteran, fighter test pilot, and ex-director-general of the Center for Air Power Studies. He has been decorated with gallantry and distinguished service medals during his 40-year tenure in the IAF.
- Article Republished with Latest News and More Information
- He can be reached on X: @Chopsyturvey
- Follow EurAsian Times on Google News
