LCA Tejas. (File)
New Delhi: The first successful flight-test of power take-off (PTO) shaft was conducted on the light combat aircraft Tejas’s limited series production – 3 aircraft in Bengaluru, the defence ministry said in a release, on Tuesday. The PTO shaft is indigenously designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development Organization’s Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment, which is based in Chennai.
According to the release, the PTO shaft, which is a critical component in the aircraft, will support the requirements of future fighter aircraft and their variants while offering competitive cost and reduced time of availability.
The PTO shaft was designed with a unique innovative patented “frequency spanning technique” that enables it to negotiate different operating engine speeds. The lightweight, high-speed, lubrication-free PTO shaft transmits higher power between aircraft engine gearbox and aircraft- mounted accessory gearbox while accommodating misalignments that arise in the drive line, the release further said.
This successful test is seen as the DRDO achieving a technological feat, which only few countries have achieved. The PTO shaft technology has already been transferred to Godrej & Boyce, Mumbai; and Lakshmi Technology and Engineering, Coimbatore.
