26-05-2025
"National Need": Why Is 'Fund Kaveri Engine' Trending On X? All You Need To Know
On Monday, hundreds of citizens, defence experts, and enthusiasts took to social media, urging the Indian government to prioritise and expedite the Kaveri engine's development, a symbol of India's pursuit of self-reliance in military aviation technology. As a result, 'Fund Kaveri Engine' became the top trend on X, reflecting the growing sentiment among the public. Many called on PM Modi to allocate more funds and resources for the Kavera engine, emphasising its importance in the nation's interest. The goal is to end India's dependence on foreign engines for building fighter jets, promoting self-reliance in defence technology.
Using #FundKaveriEngine, users expressed national pride and emphasised the strategic importance of self-reliance in defence technology.
Here are some tweets going viral on X:
Make it 1 million !!!! #FundKaveriEngine
— Hinduism_and_Science (@Hinduism_sci) May 26, 2025
#FundKaveriEngine – A Call for Self-Reliance
The Kaveri Engine project was India's dream to build an indigenous fighter jet engine ,but it's been stalled for years.
Even today, we rely on countries like the U.S. and France for fighter jet engines.
That's a risk to our…
— Shilpa Sahu (@shilpasahu432) May 26, 2025
Our next target should be our own gas turbine engines. #FundKaveriEngine
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) May 26, 2025
Nirmala Sitharaman ji, 18% ki Jagha 20% lelo Caramel popcorn pe but Kaveri Engine ko Fund kardo. #FundKaveriEngine
— Abhay (@KaunHaiAbhay) May 26, 2025
Use Kaveri Engine posters everywhere, every time you use #FundKaveriEngine
collected from Twitter.
Nine pictures have been uploaded in this thread; I will add more in this thread when I find new ones.
— Sefril (@sefril236) May 26, 2025
We must be the only nation in history where people are running a crowd campaign to fund a gas turbine. Gratifying 😸🫡
1/2
— dharmic aeroplate v2 (@daeroplate_v2) May 26, 2025
What is the Kaveri Engine project?
The Kaveri Engine is an indigenous jet engine developed by India's Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). According to DRDO, it's a low-bypass, twin-spool turbofan engine designed to produce around 80 kN of thrust, initially intended to power the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas.
The Kaveri Engine features a flat-rated design to minimise thrust loss in high-temperature and high-speed conditions. Its twin-lane Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system ensures precise control, with a manual backup for added reliability. This design enables the engine to maintain optimal performance in various operating conditions.
The project, started in the 1980s, aimed to reduce India's reliance on foreign engines for its fighter jets but faced challenges like thrust deficiencies, weight issues, and delays due to sanctions after India's 1998 nuclear tests. Although delinked from the Tejas program in 2008, a derivative version is now being developed for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) like the Ghatak stealth UCAV, with recent progress in in-flight testing and private sector involvement, such as Godrej Aerospace delivering engine modules.
Reasons For Delay
The Kaveri engine project has faced significant delays and setbacks due to various challenges. These include the complexity of developing advanced technologies like aerothermal dynamics, metallurgy, and control systems from scratch. Western sanctions denied critical materials, such as single-crystal blades, while India lacked skilled manpower and high-altitude test facilities, relying on foreign setups like Russia's CIAM. Unrealistic expectations, such as powering the Tejas fighter without validation, and the collapse of international collaboration with Snecma, further complicated the project.
