The jet engine remains the biggest stumbling block in India’s bid to achieve military modernization through self-reliance. India is in talks with U.S. engine manufacturer General Electric for its F414 jet engine to power the five prototypes of India’s fifth-generation fighter jet under development, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Several reports indicate that the ongoing negotiations have hit a roadblock as the cost per engine has tripled. This comes amid already delayed development and deliveries of fighter jets.
The F414 engine has also been chosen to power the Mk2 variant of the indigenous single-engine Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) and the twin-engine AMCA-Mk1. Given the confusion due to this, officials in the know clarified that the larger deal under negotiation between GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Mk2 program remains in the commercial stage. The cost escalation is with respect to the 15 engines that the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), designing the AMCA, is looking to purchase off-the-shelf to power the prototypes.
The whole episode has nonetheless put the spotlight on a deal that has now been in the works for over three years.
The cost of the larger deal too is expected to go up significantly, given the steep devaluation of the rupee in the last few years, disruption in supply chains, and increase in input and raw material costs due to major conflicts – the war in Ukraine and more recently, the war in West Asia.
