The sale of the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas is anticipated to come up during the bilateral meetings between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Argentinean colleague Jorge Enrique Taiana on Tuesday. The Tejas, which is already a part of the IAF, has attracted the attention of the Argentinians.

The General Electric (GE) F414 engine, which is American-made, is for urgent needs. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a plane maker with its Bangalore headquarters, plans to increase Tejas manufacturing rates.

General Electric: The agreement with the US company is for urgent requirements as HAL plans to increase manufacturing of the TEJAS light combat aircraft.

Safran: The strong 110 kilonewton engine for AMCA MK-2 jets will be jointly produced by the French company and HAL.

The TEJAS MK-2 jet’s prototype was able to begin testing last month thanks to approval from the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Eight engines from GE have already been provided for the testing procedure. The agreement between the US and India on the amount of technology transfer to that country has been finalised.

A memorandum of agreement to produce engines for combat jets was unveiled by GE and HAL last month. PM Narendra Modi made the statement while he was in the US. In the case of the co-production of the French-origin Safran engine, the project entails developing a brand-new engine that is intended to be, at least initially, more potent than anything already in use elsewhere in the globe. Safran and the DRDO are working on creating a project roadmap, which should be completed before the end of the year. The 110 kilo newton thrust engine is anticipated to be released in around 10 years.

According to sources, up to 360 of the planes planned to be produced in India over the next about 15 years may use the US engine. TEJAS MK-2 jets will run on GE-F414 engines. HAL will construct 120 of these aircraft. Additionally, the engine will be utilised to power the Indian Navy’s projected 100 deck-based fighters. The advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA), MK-1, of which 40 are anticipated, is also expected to use the same engine.

There are plans to build another 80 or more AMCA MK-2 jets, hence a more potent engine is required. The 110 kilonewton engine is anticipated to be delivered by the Safran-DRDO project. “GE will continue to collaborate with the Indian government on the AMCA Mark-2 engine programme,” the US company has pledged.