The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL) have launched a trilogy of home-made micro and small gas turbine engines, in a move aimed at strengthening India’s capabilities in the hi-end aerospace propulsion and unmanned defence domain.
Launched on August 25 at the SSB Auditorium at CSIR Headquarters in New Delhi, the engines are the NJ-05, NJ-50 and NJ-100 that produce thrusts of 5kg, 50kg and 100kg. These compact propulsion systems units have been developed to address critical requirements for indigenous defence technologies and are suitable to fit in tactical UAVs, drone interceptors and other small missile systems.
The ceremony was attended by senior officials of the scientific and defence sectors of India. Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee was the chief guest. Dr N. Kalaiselvi, Director General of CSIR and Secretary, of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research emphasized the significance of developing specialised and critical aerospace subsystems indigenously, supporting India’s goal of achieving self-reliance in critical propulsion technologies under the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative.
The NJ-05 serves as a critical building block in this program. According to CSIR-NAL, the technology demonstrator has achieved full development and was successfully demonstrated on a small scale flight test model aircraft. It produces 50 N static sea level rated thrust with design speed ranging to 100,000 rpm, generating up to 75 N thrust.
