Bengaluru: American aerospace major GE will start supplying the F404 engines from March onwards, handing over 12 of the engines this year, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Chairman D.K. Sunil said Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of Aero India in Bengaluru, the HAL chairman said his company will start the Tejas Mk-1A delivery—already delayed by a year—by second quarter of 2025. He added that by 2025-end, 11 Tejas Mk-1A will be ready.
Of the 11, three completed aircraft took to the skies at Aero India with Category B engines. Category B refers to reserve engines that were used earlier or that came as a part of an earlier deal with GE for the Tejas series and remained unused.
Sunil also said a contract for 97 more LCA Tejas Mk-1A and 156 Light Combat Helicopter Prachand will be negotiated and signed in the next six months. The total value of these contacts will likely be Rs 1.3 lakh crore.
Asked when HAL will complete the delayed order of the Tejas, he said the existing order for 87 will be completed in three and a half years.
The new order for 97 more—which will be signed later this year—will be completed by 2031. HAL, Sunil said, can build 24 aircraft a year now.
“The GE has stabilised its manufacturing process for the F404 engines. We have already made three aircraft, and by the end of this year, 11 will be manufactured. As the engines start coming in, our delivery to the IAF (Indian Air Force) will start,” he said.
According to the contract signed between HAL and GE in August 2021, the American firm was supposed to deliver 99 engines starting March 2023 to cater to the IAF’s order for 83 LCA Tejas Mk-1A inked earlier that year.
According to the contract terms, GE was supposed to deliver the engines at the rate at which HAL was supposed to deliver the aircraft—16 each financial year. It is now learnt that GE has promised HAL that it will deliver engines at a faster rate to keep up with the timeline.
Asked about plans to jointly manufacture GE F414 engines in India, Sunil said negotiations are on, and an American team is coming down at the end of this month.
He said talks are ongoing regarding the actual transfer of technology (ToT) for the F414 engines, which will power Tejas Mk-2 and possibly the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
He said that the deal involves 80 percent technology transfer by the US firm. The US firm said it would transfer the drawings in some instances, but HAL wanted the actual know-how. Only after settling the ToT issue would HAL go in for cost negotiations, said Sunil.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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