Eurojet Bolsters Engine Offer for India's LCA

NEW DELHI - Eurojet of Germany has offered India aircraft engine technology to power India's homegrown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk2 version.

Indian Defence Ministry sources said the single crystal turbine blade technology, originally denied to Indian scientists, has been offered to India by Eurojet via the EJ200 engine. The EJ200 is competing with the General Electric GE 414 to power the LCA.

Last year, India's Aeronautical Development Agency, which is developing the LCA, floated a request for proposals to GE and Eurojet.

Meanwhile, EADS, whose Eurofighter aircraft is also competing for India's $10 billion program to purchase 126 Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft, has offered thrust-vectoring technology.

Indian Defence Ministry sources said the offer by Eurojet and EADS were received simultaneously last month.

An EADS executive claimed that equipping the twin-engine Typhoon's engines with thrust vectoring nozzles could reduce fuel burn on a typical mission by up to 5 percent while increasing available thrust in supersonic cruise by up to 7 percent.