Engine Hunt Begins For Indian Civil Jet Effort

Easily its most ambitious non-military aerospace endeavour, India has announced a competition to engine its proposed 90-seater indigenous regional jet, currently being conceptualised under the National Civil Aircraft Development (NCAD) programme under a cluster of civil and military laboratories.

The request for information put out by the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) requires responses by February 14, and is understood to have endorsed its RFI to all major engine vendors, including GE, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney. The RFI provides some interesting prospective figures though. "Present estimates show that such an engine will be required around 2017 time frame," says the published RFI.

The NCAD project needs 40-80kN turbofans in a twin configuration, with a committed delivery of 20 engines in 2017 (when engine integration will presumably take place). Subsequently, according to the document, the project requires 1,000 engine sets at a rate of 80 each year spread over 20 years.

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