NEW DELHI: Amidst the prevailing anxiety regarding supply of engines by General Electric (GE), the company on Wednesday announced the delivery of the first Aerospace F404-IN20 engine to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
“On Tuesday (March 25), we were excited to deliver the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines to our valued customer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk 1A fight jet,” Said Shawn Warren, General Manager, Combat and Trainer Engines, GE Aerospace.
On further enquiry a source said the engine was shipped from the GE Aerospace facility for HAL and is expected to reach the destination sometime in April. "It will be put under some more tests once it reaches HAL and will be married with the fuselage thereafter," the source added.
The rest of the 98 engines are expected subsequently, with 12 engines within this year. HAL Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) DK Sunil said at Aero India in February that 12 LCA Mk1A jets will be ready this year.
The Indian Air Force has been facing a shortage of fighter jets which it had planned to make up with the timely supply of the HAL-manufactured LCA Tejas. While the overall strength of the combat squadrons should be 42 Squadrons, as sanctioned, it is hovering close to 30 Squadrons. This issue has been raised by the IAF in the past including multiple times by the present Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh.
Earlier this month, ACM Singh reiterated the “badly off” numbers of fighters in the force, underlining that while it will take time to fill the existing gap, he would favour indigenously produced jets as replacements.
“Even if a domestic system delivers 85 percent or 90 percent of the performance offered by international products, we will choose to go with the homegrown option,” he said at a seminar organised by Chanakya Forum.
However, tardy delivery will not help, and he quoted Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s assurance that it would deliver 24 fighters starting next year. He was referring to the delayed delivery of the Tejas MK-IA fighters, which was set to begin last February but is yet to begin.
The HAL, as reported earlier by TNIE, has been facing issues with the supply of engines from the multinational conglomerate General Electric (GE) Company.
In October 24 this newspaper reported that the “supplies are expected to start by March 2025 as confirmed by sources and it was discussed with the US at the highest levels.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had raised the issue with the United States (US) during his September 2024 visit there.
Tejas is a single-engine, lightweight multi-role fighter, originally meant to replace MiG 21. Tejas Mk1A is the newer and improved version of India’s single-engine, 4.5 generation delta wing multirole combat aircraft designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency.
83 units of LCA Tejas Mk 1A were ordered at Rs 46,000 crore in 2021, and delivery was to start in March of the same year. In addition, 97 units of LCA Tejas Mk 1A for Rs 67,000 crore were cleared by DAC in November 2023. 40 units of LCA Tejas Mk 1 were ordered initially.
There are other future projects planned between GE Aerospace and HAL.
Adding to the GE Aerospace and the HAL relationship, it was in June 2023 that GE Aerospace signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force.
“The agreement includes the potential joint production of GE Aerospace’s F414 engines in India, and GE Aerospace continues to work with the U.S. government to receive the necessary export authorization for this. The effort is part of the Indian Air Force’s Light Combat Aircraft Mk2 program,” said GE Aerospace
GE Aerospace’s F404-IN20 engine was selected for the single engine Tejas in 2004.
As reported in October 2024, Meanwhile for the General Electrics’ Engine (GE-414) negotiation for the commercial terms is undergoing with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
