Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been delivered the third GE-404 engine of the LCA Mark-1A fighter aircraft programme from the United States, defence officials were quoted by ANI as saying. The fourth engine is to be shipped to India this month.
HAL is to be supplied with a total of 12 GE-404 engines by the end of the current fiscal year. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has ordered 83 LCA Mark 1A aircraft already, and orders for another 97 aircraft are said to be in an advanced stage of negotiation.
In 2021, India signed a $716 million agreement with General Electric for buying 99 F404-IN20 engines. Deliveries were however delayed due to supply chain disruptions, such as a setback by a South Korean component supplier, extending the new schedule to March 2025.
The IAF plans to ultimately induct 352 Tejas jets, both Mk1A and Mk2 variants. HAL is right now confident of achieving this year's delivery commitments, and engine supplies are likely to stabilise in the next fiscal year. Full-scale production is also expected to achieve 30 aircraft per year by 2026-27, with the help of both public and private industry partners.
