The Hindu : National : Plans afoot to test-fire Agni III this year

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Saturday, Jun 05, 2004

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National

Plans afoot to test-fire Agni III this year

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JUNE 4. India has drawn up plans to test the 3,000-km-range Agni III Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) this year, according to V.K. Aatre, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.

"We have started integrating it (Agni III). In such high-end technologies, it is difficult for me to indicate a time. We are at it. We have not finished all the tests. We are more than three months away (from testing it). But I am planning to do it this year," he told presspersons after a media interaction in connection with the graduation ceremony of the 26th Flight Test Course of the Air Force Test Pilots School here on Friday.

Asked if any tests were planned in view of the recent missile test by Pakistan, Dr. Aatre said: "We have our own test plans, like them. They follow theirs; we follow ours. The missile the Pakistanis fired a few days ago is a 1,000-plus-km range one. Their next missile is going to be of a longer range. Our Agni-II has a range of 2,000-km. Agni I and II are now in the process of induction." On Saturday, Pakistan test-fired the "Ghauri" missile capable of carrying all types of warheads and travelling up to 1,500 km.

Kaveri engine

He said the light combat aircraft now had the American GE 404 engine supplied by General Electric. Asked when it would fly with the indigenous Kaveri engine, Dr. Aatre said: "Even if it is ready, the prototypes will not fly with it. The Kaveri engine has to be the most comprehensive engine, especially for a country that does not have a good automobile engine."

About the deal with General Electric, he said the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited had to make eight aircraft a year under a limited series production. General Electric had to provide the engines for those aircraft — 12 to 15 engines in all. "There is a general agreement with General Electric, partially cleared by the U.S. Government for additional engines," he said.

However, the light combat aircraft would fly with the Kaveri engine by 2006. "We have developed a programme by which the light combat aircraft is supposed to fly with the Kaveri engine in 2006. Engine induction is complex, and will take a minimum of three to four years. We want to first put it in a twin-engine aircraft to gain some experience." Sources said the Kaveri would replace one of the two engines on a Sukhoi for such a test. Dr. Aatre said the Kaveri had run for 1,000 hours. "It must run for 7,000 hours for us to put it in the light combat aircraft." Besides, the light combat aircraft itself needed 2,500 hours of flying to get its final clearance.

Saras to fly again

Dr. Aatre said the National Aerospace Laboratories-designed civilian aircraft, Saras, would fly again on Monday.

Air Cmde Anil Chopra said: "The aircraft flew for about 25 minutes and reached a height of 7,000 feet. The gap of almost a week between the first flight and second one is because we are still doing a detailed analysis of the parameters. There were 350 sensors on board recording details such as temperature and control movements."

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