Big Update On HTSE-1200 Helicopter Engine and Uttam Mk2 AESA Radar

The HAL HTSE-1200 (“Hindustan Turbo Shaft Engine”) is a turboshaft engine under development by India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). It is aimed at 3.5 ton single engine class and 5-8 ton twin engine class helicopter configurations. India will need 5,000-6,000 helicopters to operate in 2020s. This will be an indigenous design giving engine alternatives for the HAL-developed LUH, ALH and LCH. The first run of engine was conducted in February 2018 when it achieved 76% of the rpm required.

There have been 250 tests of engine since inaugural run. The engine has been “progressing well” to have its first flight test by end of 2019. Directionally Solidified Gas Generator (GG) Turbine blades were also developed for the engine indigenously.

In the Annual written report 2020-21 of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, it is revealed that HTSE 1200 achieved 100% speed run on core engine. Sea level trials of core engine completed successfully. HAL Engine Division at Koraput in association with Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) has developed Single Crystal Blade samples. HAL has also completed the manufacturing of parts and modular assemblies for powerfulness mode engine. HAL is set to start limited series production of engine from 2021 end, which will be for 5 units for further testings.

Uttam is a solid province GaAs based Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar under development by Electronics and Radar Development Establishment (LRDE), a laboratory of the Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO). It is a low probability of intercept radar intended to be equipped with HAL Tejas Mark 1A, HAL Tejas Mark 2 and HAL TEDBF aircraft with plans to implement a larger and more powerful variant on-board India’s 5th Generation fighter aircraft HAL AMCA.

It is a liquid cooled AESA radar featuring quad band modules that can be stacked to form a larger unit. This allows the manufacturer to scale the radar to be used in larger aircraft. There are programme afoot to create a larger scalable design to be used in India’s 5th Generation fighter aircraft HAL AMCA.

The radar development began in 2012 and its full-scale model was displayed at the Aero India 2017. A fully functional AESA radar image was unveiled at Aero India 2019, the radar image was mounted inside the glass nose of a Tejas image. Three units are in various phases of testing, as of 2021. Uttam AESA radar has completed 230 hours of airborne testing onboard two Tejas fighter jets (LSP2 and LSP3) beside an executive jet; presumed to be DRDO’s Dornier 228 “Nabhratna” used as a flying test bed by LRDE. Once fully validated and certified, programme is to introduce the radar in later batches of Tejas Mark 1A aircraft. The Uttam radar will be used with DRDO’s Unified Electronic Warfare suite.

During Aero India 2021, there was a licensing agreements for TOT from DRDO to HAL for manufacturing and integration of Uttam in Mark 1A variant of Tejas.

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