Indian Air Force will soon get Tejas MK-1A, GE increases supply of F404 engines

​To bring the production of the Indian Air Force’s indigenous fighter aircraft Tejas MK-1A back on track, American company GE Aerospace has started a special production line for the F404-IN20 engine. For the last two years, shortage of engines had remained the biggest obstacle to this project, due to which the delivery of the aircraft was stuck despite the airframe being prepared by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has so far received seven new F404-IN20 engines from GE. Apart from this, the technical problem faced by the sixth engine which came earlier has also been rectified and it has been passed for operational use.

Delivery Estimate: American company GE Aerospace has assured that it will deliver 20 to 22 engines to India by the end of 2026, and after this 30 more engines will be delivered in 2027.

Enhanced production target: With the start of regular supply of engines, HAL wants to accelerate production at its Bengaluru and Nashik plants to achieve the target of producing 24 to 30 aircraft every year.

Big orders of Indian Air Force: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has so far ordered a total of 180 Tejas MK-1A aircraft. Of these, the deal for 83 aircraft was signed in 2021 and the deal for 97 additional aircraft was signed in 2025. With such a huge order, India has become the largest customer of GE F404 engine.

What is the biggest challenge now?

After the engine problem has been solved to a great extent, now technical integration remains the biggest headache. Work is underway on coordination between the Israeli EL/M-2052 AESA radar, Electronic Warfare (EW) system and the software of the indigenous Astra missile installed in the aircraft.

Expected to receive the first consignment of Tejas MK-1A soon

​The Indian Air Force has made it clear that it will accept only fully prepared and certified fighter aircraft as per the requirements of the air staff. However, overcoming all these obstacles, it is expected that the first batch of Tejas MK-1A will soon start being received by the Air Force.