NAL, Pratt & Whitney in talks to co-develop aircraft engine for indigenous RTA-70 programme

Bangalore: India's leading aerospace design establishment, the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), is in talks with leading engine makers, Pratt and Whitney of Canada, for the joint development of an India-specific engine for its proposed 90-seater regional transport aircraft, or RTA 70. The NAL-designed RTA-70 is meant to ply short-haul routes and compete with planes of French-Italian aircraft maker Avions de Transport Régional (ATR), a leading exporter of turbo-prop aircraft to the Indian sub-continent.

NAL, a constituent lab of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), wants a fuel-efficient turboprop engine from Pratt and Whitney to power the RTA-70.

''The technical discussions are on. They already have (similar type of) engines flying in other planes,'' said Kota Harinarayana, ex-chief designer of India's prestigious Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, and currently the Raja Ramanna fellow at NAL. Harinarayana is spearheading the RTA-70 project.

Pratt and Whitney engines also power the turboprop family of 50-74 seater planes of ATR, the equal joint venture between Alenia Aeronautica and European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.

India's aerospace industry has had limited success in developing engines. Its only success, to date, has been the PTAE-7 small engine for Lakshya, the pilotless target aircraft, built by aerospace giant Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

The indigenously developed Kaveri engine for the LCA Tejas fighter, has already been under development for at least two decades. Off and on, there have been reports about the Gas Turbine and Research Establishment, the agency developing the engine, looking for foreign partners to build the power plant.

According to Harinarayana, NAL wants to sign a partner for the engine programme from the start in order to ensure long-term commitment and costs. He also said that NAL will build a digital concept of the RTA 70 in around two years and a flying prototype in four years.

NAL's 14-seat Saras plane, currently under development, is powered by Pratt and Whitney engines. Saras, named after the Indian crane, is a milestone in that it will be the first indigenously designed commercial civilian aircraft.

NAL is hoping for formal DGCA clearance for the Saras by 2009.