Indian Air Force (IAF) LCA Tejas performs an aerobatic display during the Aero India 2023 air show at Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, February 13, 2023.
Credit: Reuters Photo
New Delhi: Amid ongoing tariff tensions, India is likely to sign a mega defence deal with the US to buy 113 additional F-404 engines from General Electric for 97 Tejas LCA jets, which the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited will manufacture.
The deal worth around $1 billion is likely to be inked by September, according to an ANI report that quoted unnamed defence officials.
A week ago, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved the purchase of 97 additional Tejas LCA Mk-1A from HAL at a cost of Rs 62,000 crore to boost the Indian Air Force’s depleting squadron strength.
Indian officials said the new deal would help HAL complete the delivery of 180 Tejas LCA Mk-1A in time.
Due to a long delay in GE’s supply of F-404, the Bengaluru-based aviation major is yet to supply the homegrown fighter jets to the Indian Air Force.
HAL plans to meet its production targets, with the first batch of 83 aircraft slated for delivery by 2029-30, and the subsequent 97 by 2033-34, provided GE fulfils its promise of supplying two engines per month.
HAL is also parallelly negotiating with GE to buy 200 more powerful GE-414 engines for the advanced versions of Tejas LCA and the indigenous fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft.
Sources said the ongoing discussions involving HAL, Defence Ministry and US officials might conclude in a few months.
The indigenous fighter aircraft programme, backed by the Defence Ministry and Air Headquarters, will promote indigenisation and also give a leg-up to small and medium enterprises engaged in defence business.
Indian and US officials on Tuesday held a 2+2 discussion on defence and military cooperation. The two countries are working on a new 10-year framework for India-US major defence partnership.