India Signs historic deal with GE to Produce Fighter Jet Engines

Washington:
By creating a collaboration with the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited,
General Electric’s aerospace division has shown its support for the Narendra
Modi government’s Make in India drive. Together, the two companies will
manufacture fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force in India.

The meeting between
Prime Minister Modi and General Electric chairman H Lawrence Culp Jr. took
place hours before the news was made. The Prime Minister’s office released
photos of the meeting with GE’s CEO shortly after it ended. PM Narendra modi
met with General Electric’s CEO, H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., and they had fruitful
talks. They spoke about expanding GE’s IT partnership with India’s industrial
sector, as reported by the PMO on Twitter.

GE Aerospace issued a
statement calling the MoU it signed with the Indian government “a major
milestone” and a “key element in boosting defence cooperation between
the two countries” in light of Prime Minister Modi’s current state visit
to the United States.

The agreement includes
the prospective joint production of GE Aerospace’s F414 engines in India,
according to the statement. “GE Aerospace continues to work with the
United States government to obtain the required export authorization for
this.” The initiative is a component of the Indian Air Force’s Light
Combat Aircraft Mk2 programme, according to the document.

H. Lawrence Culp Jr.,
CEO of GE, termed the agreement “historic.” “This historic
agreement was made possible by our longstanding partnership with India and
HAL,” he stated.

“We are pleased to
contribute to the advancement of President Biden and Prime Minister Modi’s
vision for closer coordination between the two nations. Our unrivalled F414
engines will provide significant economic and national security benefits for
both countries as we assist our customers in producing engines of the highest
quality to satisfy the requirements of their military fleet,” he added.

The latest version of
India’s homegrown fighter plane, the Tejas Mk2, will be powered by the GE F414
engine. The Air Force has worked with GE for a long time because the F404
engines power the latest version of the Tejas.

The big question,
though, is how much the US will let technology be shared as part of this
defence deal. At the heart of this question is the single-crystal aerofoil
technology that lets fighter jet engines work at very high temperatures while
using less fuel.

In any case, this is
one of India’s most important military deals.

GE Aerospace said in a
statement that the deal will move forward the company’s earlier promise to
produce 99 engines for the Indian Air Force as a result of the Light Combat
Aircraft Mk2 programme.

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