India has taken delivery of the second GE-404 engine from the United States as part of its Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1A fighter jet project. The state-owned aerospace company, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will take delivery of a total of 12 such engines by the end of the ongoing financial year.
These engines will power LCA Mk1A fighter aircraft, on which the Indian Air Force (IAF) has already ordered 83 units. Furthermore, a proposal to purchase another 97 aircraft is also said to be in its final stages.
Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar, while speaking recently to CNBC News-18, said that General Electric, the maker of the engine, intends to increase delivery rates to two units per month by March 2026.
In 2021, India had signed a $716 million contract with General Electric to buy 99 F404-IN20 engines. The deliveries, though, were delayed by world-wide supply chain disruptions, including one due to a South Korean component manufacturer. These delays put the delivery date back to March 2025.
The Indian Air Force is planning to induct a total of 352 Tejas fighters, including both Mk1A and the upcoming Mk2 versions. HAL is on track to fulfill this year's delivery targets and hopes that engine deliveries will revert to normal in the forthcoming fiscal year.
In the future, the defense manufacturer is projecting a production rate of 30 aircraft annually by 2026–27, underpinned by a public-private partnership effort.
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