Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on Friday signed a major agreement with American company GE Aerospace. Under this, HAL will buy 113 new jet engines for the Tejas fighter aircraft programme. This deal has been finalized despite the recent tension in India-US relations and the imposition of 50% tariff on Indian goods by the US government.
According to the agreement, the supply of GE’s F404-GE-IN20 engines will begin from 2027 and will be completed by 2032. According to officials, the price of this deal is approximately 1 billion dollars i.e. about Rs 8,870 crore. HAL said that this engine and support package is being purchased for the manufacturing program of 97 Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft.
earlier deal
The Defense Ministry had in September signed an agreement with HAL to purchase 97 Tejas Mk-1A aircraft at a cost of Rs 62,370 crore. Tejas is a single-engine, multi-role fighter jet, capable of performing multiple operations such as air defence, maritime surveillance and strike missions. HAL is already using the same GE model F404-IN20 engine in some Tejas Mk-1A aircraft. Even in February 2021, the Defense Ministry had signed a deal worth Rs 48,000 crore to buy 83 Tejas Mk-1A aircraft from HAL. However, the delivery of these aircraft is getting delayed. The main reason for the delay is said to be GE Aerospace repeatedly missing the engine supply deadline.
The Tejas program is very important for the Indian Air Force, because the number of its fighter aircraft squadrons has come down to 31, while the approved strength is 42 squadrons. The timely arrival of new Tejas aircraft will significantly increase the combat capability of the Air Force. This new agreement between HAL and GE is considered important in terms of future expansion of Tejas fleet and ensuring its timely availability. It is expected that with timely supply of engine, HAL will be able to advance the production of Tejas Mk-1A aircraft at a faster pace.