India is all set to ink another major defence deal with the United States (US), to acquire fighter jet engines worth $700 million. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will buy a total of 83 jet engines of the LCA Mk1A version from General Electric (GE). All issues pertaining to supply have been straightened out and India will soon place an order for 100 of the GE 404 engines. Negotiations are almost over for the engines that will be used to power the homegrown Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).
The General Electric engines already power the Mk1 variant of the LCA that is already in service with the IAF. Although the deal doesn’t comprise transfer of technology, efforts are underway to build a domestic fighter jet engine for the future Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) selected the F414-GE-INS6 to power HAL Tejas Mark 2 of the Indian Air Force (IAF). It produces more thrust than previous versions, and features a Full Authority Digital Electronics Control (FADEC) system.
The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-engine multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Aircraft Research and Design Centre (ARDC) of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. Tejas has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration with a single vertical stabilizer. It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters. In 2003, the LCA was officially named “Tejas”.
