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Our Bureau

Also to accelerate Tejas project, reduce production costs

Hyderabad , June 8

A consortia of nuclear and defence entities led by the Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC), here have developed titanium half alloy tubes, a key materials component that would both accelerate the project and reduce production costs of the light combat aircraft (LCA)-Tejas.

Used for hydraulic power transmission, these titanium tubes also find application in space, especially the geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Consortia

In addition to NFC, the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Bangalore, the Research Centre for Military Airworthiness (RCMA) and MIDHANI, of Hyderabad were involved in the development process of these tubes.

The Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Dr Anil Kakodkar, handed over a set of tubes to Dr Dipankar Banerjee, Chief Controller (R&D), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), on the occasion of the NFC Day here on Thursday.

Speaking to newspersons on LCA, Dr Banerjee said the production facility set up at HAL, Bangalore, had the capacity to produce 8 aircraft per year. The first of the multi-role, LCA would be ready in the next four months. The Indian Air Force (IAF) had already placed an order for 20 LCAsor a squadron.

Ranking high

India would be among a group of half a dozen nations, now with the capability to produce these tubes indigenously. The other countries include, the US, the UK, France, Russia and Germany.

Speaking at the function, Dr Kakodkar asked the NFC to gear up its production facilities to make 850 tonnes of nuclear fuel every year to meet the growing demands of the nuclear power sector.

He also released the thorium oxide powder, which is used in the advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR), which is considered the workhorse for the future thorium-based nuclear power programmed envisaged by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

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