The tests of Indian turbofan engine Kaveri on Russian flying testbed Il-76LL (serial 76492), which began at the Gromov Flight Research Institute in Zhukovsky on 3 November 2010, were stepped up in April. Only four sorties had been flown by early March, at the first stage of the tests. The pace of the trials was hindered by problems experienced by the engine. During a March press conference, the Gromov Flight Research Institute Director, Honoured Test Pilot and Hero of Russia Pavel Vlasov, said the tests were to resume after the customer had provided new examples of the Kaveri. Finally, in mid-April 2011, the Russian flying testbed began to fly in earnest, logging several sorties a week.

According to Indian newspaper Frontier India, the Il-76LL carrying the Kaveri turbofan had logged 11 flights by May, with its total flying time having accounted for about 20 h. The engine had been tested in various operating modes at an altitude of up to 12,000 m and a speed of Mach 0.7. According to Pavel Vlasov, 43 missions are to be flown under the Russian-Indian contract signed on 2 August 2007 with Rosoboronexport’s assistance.

The GTRE Gas Turbine Research Establishment, a laboratory of India’s Defence research and development Organisation (DRDO), has been developing the Kaveri turbofan since 1989. Initially, it was planned for use on Indian Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, but the production LCA is powered by US engine F404-GE-IN20. In the mid-decade, the Indian Air Force is to begin to take delivery of upgraded Tejas Mk.2 fighters yet again fitted with US engines F414-GE-INS6. At the same time, India hopes for an indigenous engine to emerge as part of the powerplant of the Indian fifth-generation fighter being developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency under the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. It is due to take to the air late in the decade.