The state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and American defence major General Electric on Friday signed an agreement for the supply of 113 F404-GE-IN20 engines, which will power the indigenously-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk 1A.
In a post on X, HAL said that the agreement has been signed for the supply of 113 engines and support package for the execution of the 97 LCA Mk 1A programme. The order for the 113 engines is worth over $1 billion.
Over the last several months, HAL and GE have been negotiating on the procurement of the 113 F404 engines that will power its LCA Mk 1As. HAL has also been talking with GE on finalising the finer details of the joint production of the F414 engines, which will power the Light Combat Aircraft Mk2 jets for the IAF.
In all, HAL will supply 180 LCA Mk 1A to the IAF. The initial `48,000-crore order of 83 aircraft was signed in 2021, and deliveries were scheduled to begin last year. The order for an additional 97 aircraft was signed in September. HAL bagged an order 97 LCA Tejas Mk 1A. HAL is, however, yet to begin deliveries of the 83 LCA MK1As to the IAF for which it bagged an order in 2021.
So far, it has received four F404 engines from GE, and it is learnt that the deliveries can start only after the aircraft completes final certification, which includes weapon integration and firing tests. HAL has constructed 10 aircraft so far.
In an interview with The Indian Express in September, HAL Chairman and Managing Director DK Sunil said if orders (for the LCA Mk 1As) do not flow continuously to keep global aerospace companies engaged, supply chains can face bottlenecks. He had also described the GE F404 engines that power the LCA Mk 1A as “wonderful” and “proven to be reliable”.
Last month, the LCA Tejas MK-1A undertook its first public sortie at the Hindustan Aeronautics Facility in Nashik, marking a key milestone in its production journey.
