NEW DELHI: US aerospace major GE Aerospace has shipped three more F404-IN20 engines to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Tejas Mk1A, taking the total supplied under the programme to 10, but the indigenous fighter remains more than two years behind its original delivery schedule to the Indian Air Force.
“GE Aerospace shipped three F404-IN20 engines to HAL in August 2026,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. “We are proud to partner with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the Indian Air Force to power India’s indigenous fighter jets.”
The latest shipment follows the seventh engine delivered in July and comes as HAL works to begin handing over the first Mk1A aircraft to the IAF.
Under the Rs 48,000-crore contract for 83 Tejas Mk1As signed with the Ministry of Defence in February 2021, deliveries were to begin in March 2024. No Mk1A has yet been formally handed over to the IAF.
HAL has built about 30 Mk1A airframes, with the first 20 having completed manufacturing and initial flight testing. Engine availability remains a key constraint on the programme, with a number of completed aircraft awaiting production-standard F404-IN20 engines before they can be delivered.
Six engines were delivered in the financial year ended March 2026 against a revised commitment of 11. In April, then HAL chairman and managing director D K Sunil said GE had assured the company of 20 engines between June and December, describing the figure as a conservative estimate. A subsequent HAL briefing projected 15 to 20 engines by the end of the calendar year.
With three engines shipped in August, 10 have now been supplied. Seven more would have to arrive by the end of the year for GE to meet the lower end of HAL’s latest 15 to 20-engine projection. GE has committed to raising production to 24 engines in 2026-27 and 30 annually thereafter.
HAL has also invoked the liquidated-damages provision in its contract with GE over delays in engine supplies. The company confirmed earlier this year that penalties were being imposed under the contractual provision.
As reported earlier, the integration of the AESA radar remains another hurdle, with HAL earlier committing to demonstrate progress in resolving the issues by September. The radar and electronic-warfare suite are among the production systems being integrated into the Mk1A before the aircraft can be formally handed over.
The F404-IN20 engines for the original Mk1A order are being supplied under a separate Rs 5,375-crore contract signed between HAL and GE in August 2021 for 99 engines and associated support services. GE had earlier supplied 65 F404-IN20 engines for the original Tejas programme before production for India was halted. The production line was subsequently restarted for the new order.
The engine delays have assumed greater significance as the IAF struggles with a shrinking fighter fleet. The force has 29 operational fighter squadrons against a sanctioned strength of 42.5, while facing the prospect of a two-front contingency involving China and Pakistan.
The IAF’s Mk1A requirement has also expanded since the original contract. After ordering 83 aircraft in 2021, comprising 73 fighters and 10 trainers, the government cleared another 97 Mk1As in September last year, taking the planned Mk1A fleet to 180 aircraft.
India subsequently signed a follow-on contract worth around Rs 8,300 crore in November last year for 113 additional F404 engines to power the 97 additional fighters.
The 180 Mk1As are intended to progressively replace ageing IAF fighters and help arrest the decline in squadron strength.