Mar 22, 2025 09:33 AM IST
12 engines are expected in 2025, with 20 engines each expected to be delivered by GE every year to fulfill the 2021 99-engine contract worth USD 716 million.
New Delhi: Amidst anxiety over India-US trade tariffs, there is forward movement on the security front, with US aircraft engine major GE expected to deliver the first of the 99 GE-404 engines to HAL this month after a contractual delay of two years. The much awaited GE-404 engines powers Tejas Mark 1-A fighters, delays in deliveries of which has caused much concern in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
According to at least two officials in knowledge of the matter, the first of the contracted engines is already on the test-bed and is expected to be delivered by end of this month. A total of 12 engines are expected in 2025 with 20 engines each expected to be delivered by GE every year to fulfill the 2021 99-engine contract worth USD 716 million.
Parallelly, the HAL, despite its Indian PSU mindset, is working with GE for manufacturing the more powerful GE-414 engine in India under transfer of technology regime worked out by iCET (initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies) between India and US National Security Advisors. The GE-414 engine will power the advanced multi-role combat aircraft (AMCA) being developed by the DRDO.
Faced with delays in the supply of 83 LCA MK 1 A aircraft by HAL and frustration voiced by none other than the IAF Chief over the same, the Defence Ministry under the Chairmanship of Defence Secretary R. K. Singh has set up a committee to work out a business model for the proposed fifth generation fighter. This committee will not go into any technical aspects of the proposed AMCA but will work out a model which involves private sector participation in the fifth-generation program. The whole idea is that India should have other options than HAL to manufacture fighter jets to fulfill the country’s national security requirements for the future.
While US President Donald Trump has made an offer to supply India with a proven fifth-generation F-35 fighter, the Indian focus is simultaneously looking at the French option, which envisages the manufacture of Rafale fighters along with the M-88 engine in India under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ route.