India has signed a critical defence agreement worth over $1 billion with US aerospace giant General Electric (GE) for the procurement of an additional 113 jet engines. These engines are essential to power India's indigenous and long-delayed Tejas Mark-1A light combat fighters. The deal may also help smooth over recent tariff tensions with the US administration.
The delivery of these 113 new GE-F404 engines to defence Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), is scheduled to occur between 2027 and 2032. This order supplements a previous £537.5mn deal for 99 engines signed in August 2021, the delivery of which has also faced delays. D. K. Sunil, the HAL chief, confirmed that 11 Tejas aircraft are currently ready, four of which are fitted with new GE engines. He stated that the manufacturer is moving towards certification with the aim of delivering the first 10 jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by the end of March next year.
The Tejas Mark-1A programme has faced setbacks due to pending trials for weapons integration, including the Astra beyond visual range and advanced short-range air-to-air missiles, as well as laser- guided bombs, which must be fully integrated with the Israeli-origin Elta ELM-2052 radar system.
This procurement is crucial for the IAF, which currently operates only 29 fighter squadrons against an authorised strength of 42.5. The IAF is heavily relying on the improved fourth-generation Tejas Mark-1A fighters to address its depleting numbers, particularly in light of rival forces like Pakistan acquiring advanced fifth-generation stealth jets. HAL is also concurrently negotiating the co-production in India of the more powerful GE-F414 engines for the next-generation Tejas Mark-2 fighter, which includes an agreement for 80% transfer of technology worth approximately $1.5 billion.