India’s Tejas fighter jet gets US engines to battle Pakistan’s Chinese air power
The deal cements defence ties amid tariff tensions, even as analysts say Pakistan’s Chinese-made fighters still hold a technological edge
State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Friday announced it had signed an agreement with US-based General Electric Company (GE) for the supply of 113 F404-GE-IN20 engines and a support package for India’s Tejas Mk1A light combat aircraft fleet. Deliveries are scheduled between 2027 and 2032.
The engine agreement reflects the resilience of US-India defence cooperation, according to C. Uday Bhaskar, a former Indian naval officer and head of the Society for Policy Studies think tank in New Delhi.
“The deeper inference” was that the US-India strategic partnership first envisioned by the Bush administration in 2008 “is being accepted by the Trump team”, Bhaskar told This Week in Asia. “One hopes that there will be no U-turns in the near future.”
If the technology transfer envisaged under the GE deal materialised, it could catalyse India’s bid to indigenously develop next-generation fighter engines, Bhaskar said.