After delays, GE Aerospace announces delivery of jet engines for Tejas LCA-Mk1A

Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Engine manufacturer General Electric (GE) Aerospace on Wednesday (March 26, 2025) announced the delivery of the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft Mk 1A fighter jet, marking the commencement of deliveries for the delayed programme. Defence sources said that 12 engines are expected to be delivered this year.

“The first engine to power the LCA-Mk1A is currently undergoing the final round of checks on the test bed at the GE facility in Lynn. It is expected to arrive in India in April,” a defence source said adding that they are supposed to deliver 12 engines in a year. At Aero India in February, HAL Chairman and Managing Director D. K. Sunil said that 12 jets would be ready this year.

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We are on track to deliver to the latest schedule we have agreed with HAL, GE Aerospace said in response to a query from The Hindu.

Speaking at an event in February, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal A. P. Singh said that IAF needs to add 35-40 fighter jets every year to fill the shortages in numbers and that HAL has promised to produce 24 Tejas Mark-1A jets next year.

Shawn Warren, General Manager, combat & trainer engines, GE Aerospace, in a statement, attributed the delays to restarting the production line that was dormant for five years.

Recalling the earlier collaboration for the LCA-MK1 jets he said that after collaborating with the Aeronautical Development Agency in the 1980s, F404-IN20 engine was selected in 2004, The F404-IN20is a tailored design, of the F404 family, for India’s single-engine fighter with the highest thrust within F404 family and a higher-flow fan, unique single-crystal turbine blades, and numerous special components having customized it for the needs of Indian Air Force (IAF). “The F404 demonstrated it was an excellent fit for the Tejas LCA. On its first test flight in 2008, the aircraft climbed to numerous mission altitudes and achieved Mach 1.1 speed,” Mr. Warren said.

By 2016, GE Aerospace delivered 65 F404-IN20 engines for the 40 Tejas jets ordered earlier and with no additional engine orders on the horizon, the production line for F404-IN20 was shut down, the statement said. However, when HAL ordered an additional 99 engines in 2021 for the Tejas Mk1A LCA, our team began the complex task of restarting the F404-IN20 production line, which had been dormant for five years, and re-engaging the engine’s global supply chain, Mr. Warren said. “Restarting a jet engine production line is a challenging process. Restarting the F404-IN20 engine line during the COVID pandemic was even more challenging,” he said adding that they are working closely with their suppliers to ramp up production on parts and materials for the F404-IN20.

At Aero India, Mr. Sunil had asserted that GE’s supply chain issues have been resolved and the would receive 12 F-404 engines for the LCA-Mk1A this year. “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 will start,” he had stated.

He also said that three Tejas Mk1A are flying and by the end of this year, one jet from Nasik and 11 from Bengaluru will be ready while stressing that the existing order for 87 LCA-Mk1A would be completed in three and a half years and the additional order for 97 jets by FY31-32 with production rate going to 24 jets per year.

Early this month, a high level empowered committee headed by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh constituted to recommend ways for Capability Enhancement of the IAF identified key thrust areas and made recommendations for implementation in the short, medium and long-term in the report presented to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

The IAF is currently at 31 fighter squadrons as against the sanctioned strength of 42.5 squadrons. While deliveries of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A are delayed, several of the existing fighter jets – jaguars, MIG-29UPG and Mirage-2000 – will also start phasing out by end of this decade. The bigger and more capable LCA-Mk2 is under development while the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the country’s fifth generation jet, is atleast a decade away.