Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has started the preparation for the testing of HTFE engines. One with afterburner will produce 40 KN while dry variant will produce 25KN.

The HTFE -25 has been envisaged as a replacement for the dour Mk.811 turbofans currently powering the SEPECAT Jaguar close air support and nuclear strike role deep-strike fighter jets.  HAL decided to use its internal resources with the aim of producing an indigenously designed and developed non-afterburning turbofan within a timeframe of six years beginning from 2013. Designated as the HTFE-25 and rated at 25kN dry thrust, its engine core’s inaugural run was successfully completed in the presence of the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar at HAL’s Engine Division on December 14, 2015. Only two such engine cores had been built by then and even at that time no mention was made of this turbofan being developed for the Jaguar IS, reported defence website Trishul-Trident.

Subsequent to this development, it was only in March 2019 that HAL decided to develop an afterburner for the HTFE-25 for giving it a maximum thrust of 40.39kN. However, HAL has not yet officially stated whether or not it will offer this variant of the HTFE-25 for the IAF’s Jaguar IS, about 80 of which are due to be re-engined. Nor has HAL provided any data on what will be the TBO and TTSL of an HTFE-25 turbofan fitted with an afterburner. It also remains unclear whether HAL will eventually be forced to seek technical consultancy expertise from the likes of Rolls-Royce for coming up with an optimally engineered production-series HTFE-25 turbofan meant for the Jaguar IS, the report further adds.