IAF wants production of Tejas jet to be ramped up even as deliveries of delayed US engines begin only in November | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Struggling with just 30 fighter aircraft squadrons when it takes at least 42 to take on China and Pakistan, IAF has called for a significant increase in the production rate of indigenous Tejas fighter jetseven via the route of public-private partnership.
The good news is that the American company General Electrical is expected to begin the long-awaited delivery of GE-F404 turbofan jet engines, used in the Tejas Mark-1A fighter aircraft, from November after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh raised the issue during his visit to Washington last month.
The IAF wants to induct about 300 Tejas fighters over the next 15 years, which requires defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics (HALL) to significantly increase production speed.
“The problem is to match the production capacity with our requirements. The way forward is to diversify production lines, have more public-private partnerships or joint ventures with private partners to have multiple weapon lines and multiple production lines,” IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari said on the sidelines of the multinational Tarang Shakti exercise in Jodhpur.
As for the supply of aircraft engines, HAL is expected to supply at least two. GE-F404 engines per month from November, as per General Electric’s new commitment, officials told TOI.
“The certainty is there. But whether the delivery of the engines actually starts in November remains to be seen,” an official said. The delay in the delivery schedule of 99 GE-F404 engines, which were to begin in March, is one of the major issues that has hit the production schedule of the first 83 Tejas Mark-1A jets, which were contracted by HAL under the Rs 46,898 crore deal signed in February 2021, as reported earlier by TOI.
All these 83 “enhanced” Tejas Mark-1A jets were supposed to be delivered to the IAF in the period February 2024-February 2028. “As per the contract, the first jet was supposed to be delivered in February-March this year, but that is now likely to happen only in November. At best, HAL will be able to deliver only eight of the 16 jets that were supposed to be delivered in the 2024-25 fiscal year. All this will have a domino effect in the long run,” the official said.
A contract worth Rs 67,000 crore for 97 additional Tejas Mark-1A fighter aircraft is also being finalised after the defence ministry issued the tender to HAL earlier this year.
India and the US are also currently in final techno-commercial negotiations for co-production of GE-F414 jet engines by General Electric and HAL for the Tejas Mark-2 fighter aircraft in India, involving a transfer of 80% of the technology worth around USD 1 billion.
The Cabinet Committee on Security had in August 2022 approved the development of the Tejas Mark-2 fighter jets with the more powerful GE-F414 engines at a cost of over Rs 9,000 crore. The IAF plans to induct six squadrons (108 fighter jets) of the Tejas Mark-2, which will have a longer combat range and greater weapon carrying capacity than the Mark-1A variant.
As part of the Tejas’ long development history, the IAF has so far ordered only 35-36 of the initial 40 Mark-1 fighters. These were ordered for Rs 8,802 crore under two contracts signed in March 2006 and December 2010.