TSAMTO, July 16. India is ready to sign another major defense deal with the United States, providing for the purchase of General Electric F404 turbofan engines in the amount of $ 700 million.
According to the Economist Times, negotiations are currently underway on engines that will be used to equip the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of the Mk version.1A, almost completed.
The Indian Air Force intends to purchase engines from General Electric (GE)to equip a total of 83 LCA Mk.1A aircraft. According to sources of the Economist Times, all supply-related issues have been resolved, and India should soon place an order. The contract with General Electric is likely to be signed before the end of the year.
If the deal goes through, it will become the largest defense contract with the United States since February 2020, when India placed orders for the purchase of Apache attack helicopters and multi-purpose MH-60R.
Currently, American engines are already equipped with the LCA version Mk.1 aircraft adopted by the Indian Air Force.
Although the deal does not provide for the transfer of technologies, efforts are currently being made in India to create a national jet engine, which should be equipped with a promising AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) fighter.
The project implemented by the Defense Research and Development Organization of the Ministry of Defense of India (DRDO) provides for cooperation with the United Kingdom or France to jointly develop the most important engine technologies that will be used on all promising fighters of the Indian Air Force.
In February 2021, the Ministry of Defense of India signed a contract with the state-owned aerospace company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) worth about 480 billion rubles. rupees ($6.5 billion) for the purchase of LCA fighters of the Mk.1A version. This is the largest defense contract signed with an Indian manufacturer in history.
