On Thursday, GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a historic agreement to jointly build fighter jet engines for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk-II — Tejas — of the Indian Air Force.
The statement was made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first-ever state visit to the US at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
“The agreement includes the potential joint production of GE Aerospace’s F414 engines in India, and GE Aerospace continues to work with the US government to receive the necessary export authorization for this,” the US company said in a statement today.
It called the Memorandum of Understanding with HAL a “key element” in boosting India and the US’s defence cooperation.
H Lawrence Culp Jr., Chairman, Chief Executive Officer of GE, and CEO of GE Aerospace, said, “This is a historic deal made possible by our long-standing collaboration with India and HAL.
This partnership would help GE Aerospace fulfil an earlier promise to the IAF to construct 99 engines for the LCA-Mk-II program.
“It puts the company in a strong position to create a family of products in India, including the F404 engine that currently powers the LCA Mk1 and LCA Mk1A aircraft and GE Aerospace’s selection for the prototype development, testing and certification of the AMCA program with our F414-INS6 engine,” the statement read.
The agreement is noteworthy since India has purchased its military aircraft from groups based in Europe and Russia. Recently, the French combat aircraft maker Dassault sold 36 Rafale fighter fighters to the Indian Air Force. Additionally, GE and the Indian government will keep working together on the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Mk2 engine project.
“We are honoured to contribute to realizing Biden and Modi’s goal of improved cooperation between the two countries. We assist our clients in building the finest quality engines to fulfil the demands of their military fleet. As such, we will provide significant economic and national security advantages for both nations. The US company said this is because of the unrivalled performance of our F414 engines.
For the 83 light combat aircraft it is currently producing for the IAF, HAL employs GE 404 engines.
Since operating in India more than 40 years ago, GE Aerospace has been heavily involved in the sector, providing services, engines, avionics, engineering, production, and local sourcing. The development and manufacturing of the LCA Mk1 and LCA Mk2 programs included the F404 and F414 from GE Aerospace.
99 more F404 engines are on order for LCA Mk1A, bringing the total number of engines supplied to 75. According to a US company, eight F414 engines have been supplied as part of a continuing LCA Mk2 development effort.
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