GE, HAL To Make Fighter Jet Engines In India As Modi Wins Landmark Deal
The deal signed during PM Modi's U.S. visit signifies deepening military ties between the two countries.
General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. have agreed to build fighter jet engines for India's air force and navy—a high point of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S. visit that signifies deepening military ties between the two countries.
The memorandum of understanding includes the potential joint production of GE Aerospace’s F414 engines in India, and GE Aerospace continues to work with the U.S. government to receive the necessary export authorisation for this, according to its statement.
The effort is part of HAL’s indigenously developed Mk2 light combat aircraft and fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft—AMCA—programmes. The deal needs the approval of the U.S. Congress as it requires technology transfer.
The announcement strengthens India-U.S. military cooperation as China grows more assertive. And it dovetails with PM Modi’s make-in-India push to reduce imports by the world’s largest buyers of defence equipment.
"This is a historic agreement made possible by our longstanding partnership with India and HAL," said H. Lawrence Culp, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of GE and CEO of GE Aerospace, in the statement. "We are proud to play a role in advancing President Biden and Prime Minister Modi’s vision of closer coordination between the two nations."
The agreement will advance GE Aerospace’s earlier commitment to build 99 engines for the Indian Air Force as part of the LCA Mk2 programme, the statement said.
The Biden administration approved the partnership even as India maintained its close ties with Russia and ramped up crude imports despite Western sanctions on Moscow after the invasion of Ukraine.
