MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax-AVN) - An engineer team of the Indian Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. will come on Tuesday to the Saturn research and production association, Rybinsk, Russia to monitor the design of a new AL-55 aircraft engine, a competent source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency Monday.
"A main goal of the visit of the Indian experts will be to monitor the design of the new AL-55 aircraft engine," the source said.
The source said that Saturn offers this engine at the tender on the power plant for the "family of so-called intermediate trainer aircraft designated as HJT-36."
According to the source, the AL-55 is a low-power derivative of the AL-31F engine for Flanker fighters.
"Saturn has offered at the tender in India the working draft design of the engine and the feasibility study," he said.
He said that in the event Saturn won the tender Russian producers would get a large order and probably the engines would be produced in India under license.
Saturn's experts say their engine has better performances than the contender AI-222-25 designed by Progress, Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine. At the same thrust, the Russian engine is lighter and smaller.
The design thrust of the AL-55 family is 2,200 to 2,400kg. The family should include afterburner and thrust vectoring version. The basic one has a thrust of 2,200kg and weighs 355kg.