After delay, GE Aerospace announces jet engines for Tejas LCA-MK1A

Representative file image. |Photo source: Reuters

Engine manufacturer General Electric (GE) Aerospace announced on Wednesday (March 26, 2025) that it would deliver the first engine of the 99 F404-IN20 engine to Hindustan Aeronautics Corporation Limited (HAL) for Tejas Light Compatibility Mk 1A Fights Mk 1A Fighter Jet, marking the delivery of the delay plan. Defense sources said 12 engines are expected to be delivered this year.

“The first engine to power the LCA-MK1A is currently underway for the final check on the test bed at the Lynn GE facility. It is expected to arrive in India in April.” DK Sunil, chairman and managing director of HAL, said in India, that 12 jets will be prepared this year.

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GE Aerospase said we are expected to adapt to the latest schedule agreed with HAL. Hindu.

IAF chief marshal AP Singh said at a February event that the IAF needs to add 35-40 fighter jets each year to fill the shortage, and HAL promised to produce 24 Tejas Mark-1a jets next year.

Shawn Warren, general manager of combat and trainer engines at GE Aerospace, attributed in a statement to delays in re-extending the production line for five years.

Looking back on the earlier collaboration of the LCA-MK1 jet, he said that after working with the Aviation Development Agency in the 1980s, the F404-In20 engine was selected in 2004, the F404-In20 In20 In tailored F404 family, which is the F404 family, which is the single engine in India and its higher single range, and many unique single fans, has the highest single license plate and has unique single fans, and has a unique Order turn turn turn turn turn turn turn turn off turn off turn off turn off turn off turn off turn off turn off turn off off turn off off. It meets the needs of the Indian Air Force (IAF). “The F404 proved it was perfect for Tejas LCA. During its first test flight in 2008, the aircraft climbed to many mission altitudes and achieved a speed of Mach 1.1,” Warren said.

By 2016, GE Aerospace had 65 F404-IN20 engines for the 40 Tejas jets ordered earlier and there were no additional engine orders, so the F404-In20 production line was closed, the statement said. However, when HAL ordered another 99 engines for the Tejas MK1A LCA in 2021, our team started the complex task of restarting the F404-In20 production line, which has been dormant for five years and restarting the engine’s global supply chain. “Restarting the engine production line is a challenging process. Restarting the F404-In20 engine series during the COVID pandemic is even more challenging,” he said. He added that they are working closely with suppliers to increase the production of parts and materials for the F404-In20.

In India Aero India, Mr Sunil asserted that GE’s supply chain problems have been resolved and will receive 12 F-404 engines for the LCA-MK1A this year. “GE has stabilized the manufacturing process of the F404 engine. We have built three aircraft and by the end of this year, 11 aircraft will be built. With the start of the engine, our delivery to the IAF will be started.”

He also said that three Tejas MK1As are flying and that by the end of this year one NASIK jet will be ready, while 11 in Bangalore will be ready, while stressing that the existing orders for the 87 LCA-MK1A will be completed within three and a half years and additional orders will be completed within three years, while the 97 JET has an additional order of 97 JET with a productivity of 24 Jets per year.

Earlier this month, a senior authorization committee led by Defense Minister Rajesh Kumar Singh constituted a recommendation in the short, medium, and long term approach to improving the IAF’s capacity to improve capabilities.

The IAF is currently in the 31 fighter squadron, while the approved 42.5 squadron is in the strength of. While the delivery of the Light Fighter (LCA)-MK1A was delayed, several existing fighters – Jaguar, Mig-29upg and Mirage-2000 – will also begin to disappear at the end of this decade. The larger, more capable LCA-MK2 is under development, and the country’s fifth-generation jet advanced medium fighter (AMCA) has been at least a decade.