NEW DELHI: India plans to soon ink a contract with the American giant General Electric for the procurement of 113 F414 engines to be fitted in the much-awaited light combat aircraft (LCA) Mk1A for which the order was placed a few months ago.
An official at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) said, "The negotiation with GE for aero engines has been completed and the contract will be signed at the end of this month."
In August, the CCS gave the go-ahead for 97 LCA Mk1A jets to be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at a project cost of around Rs 67,000 crore. The new engines to be procured will be used for these combat jets.
Another source at HAL said that the first two LCA Mk1A aircraft would be delivered to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in October this year.
"Ten aircraft are now built and being tested. The first delivery will take place in October, with one aircraft from Nashik already ready for handover," he said.
"Two additional engines are expected to be received this month," he said.
Besides the F404 engines, "ten F414 engines have already been delivered to us," he added.
In the meantime, the Mk-1A has completed weapons integration trials, including the firing of Astra and ASRAM missiles.
Giving the timeline of the deliveries, the sources said the advanced LCA Mk2 is scheduled to be rolled out in 2027, while 83 Mk1A fighters are now expected by 2029, after a reported delay of four quarters.
The 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. It will play an important role in mitigating the decrease in the quantity of combat jets and the overall fall in combat squadrons.
As earlier brought out by The New Indian Express, the IAF had ordered 83 LCA Tejas Mk 1A at Rs 46,000 crore in 2021. Once this new order is completed in the stipulated 15 years, the IAF will have 40 LCA, over 180 LCA Mark-1A and at least 120 LCA Mark-2 planes.
The fast dwindling combat fighter strength has resulted in anxiety in the IAF leadership. In September, the MiG 21 Squadrons (23 Squadron) will be number plated, bringing the current number of fighter squadrons below 30.
While the MiG fighter jets are being retired, concerns have grown over the delayed Tejas induction, shrinking combat strength.
Officially, the IAF is supposed to have 42 squadrons of combat squadrons. A squadron in the IAF comprises 16-18 aircraft.
Tejas is a single-engine, lightweight multi-role fighter, originally meant to replace the MiG-21. The first indigenous LCA was inducted in July 2016. The first IAF Squadron to induct the Tejas was the No 45 Squadron, the 'Flying Daggers'. 40 LCA Tejas Mk 1 were ordered initially, of which 35 have been inducted till now.