SOURCE: RAUNAK KUNDE / NEWS BEAT / IDRW.ORG
Upping its recent offer to co-develop a 116kN “Enhanced Performance Engine” or “EPE” variant of baseline F-414 engine for India’s 5th generation AMCA fighter jet program, General Electric officials claimed to idrw.org that the EPE variant will be backward compatible and can be re-equipped on aircraft that are already powered by the baseline F-414 engine without requiring any modification to the rear lower fuselage or its engine bay section.
EPE will have the same length, max diameter, and inlet diameter as the baseline F-414 engine, other than changes to a few internal components like fuel line pipe and a few of the sensor positions it will be plug and play system for aircraft that are already flying with F-414 engines.
India had signed a deal with GE for the supply of the F414-INS6 derivative of the F414 engine generating 98kN class of thrust for its Tejas MkII program way back in 2010. Adjusting inflation cost, GE and HAL will be redrawing a new contract soon for a new purchase order that will see local manufacturing of the non-core section of the engine in India for the Tejas Mk2 program.
GE already has supplied around dozen F414-INS6 engines from 2018 onwards that will be used for the first four Tejas Mk2 prototypes and also on the AMCA and TEDBF prototypes. Youngje Kim, GE Aviation’s vice-president for Asia-Pacific Region Military Systems recently confirmed that it is offering India to co-develop an EPE engine that can generate a 116-120kN class of thrust with 100% ToT including Hot Core Section based on the baseline F414 for India’s AMCA MkII Program.
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