GE Aerospace has entered into an MoU with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce fighter-class engines for the Tejas light fighter and its variants.
The announcement was made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing visit to the US and is a landmark moment in Indo-US defence relations.
As per the MoU, both companies will now work towards manufacturing F414 engines under license in India from GE Aerospace. The GE F414 will power the IAF’s upcoming Tejas Mk2 fighter aircraft. GE Aerospace, however, will continue working with the US Government to receive the necessary export authorisation to manufacture these engines in India.
H Lawrence Culp, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, GE and CEO, GE Aerospace, said, “This is a historic agreement made possible by our longstanding partnership with India and HAL. Our F414 engines are unmatched and will offer important economic and national security benefits for both countries as we help our customers produce the highest quality engines to meet the needs of their military fleet.'
The US firm said in a release that the announcement 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.
GE Aerospace has also been selected for the prototype development, testing and certification of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme with its F414-INS6 engine. It will also continue collaborating with the Indian government on the AMCA Mk2 engine programme.
The US firm has operated in India for more than four decades and began working with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and HAL in 1986 to support the development of India’s Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) with F404 engines.
GE Aerospace has delivered 75 F404 engines to HAL, and 99 more are on order for LCA Mk1A. Eight F414 engines have already been delivered as part of an ongoing development programme for LCA Mk2.
To date, GE Aerospace has delivered more than 1,600 F414 engines globally. GE’s presence in India includes its research and technology centre, the John F Welch Technology Centre in Bengaluru, which opened in 2000 and its Multi-modal Factory at Pune, which opened in 2015.
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