The decision of the Joe Biden administration to pursue the GE jet engine deal with India was met with no opposition from the United States (US) Congress. This cleared the way for the implementation of the company’s agreement with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), which includes an unprecedented technology transfer, the manufacturing of jet engines in India, and licencing arrangements.
Someone who is familiar with the goings-on on Capitol Hill, the location where the United States Congress is housed, stated, “It is all clear from the legislative end. The purchase agreement had already been reached before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. But in accordance with the protocol, the State Department informed the committees on international relations in both the House and the Senate on July 28. It is considered to have received assent if no objections were raised during the first thirty days after notification by either house of Congress. There has been no opposition to this motion. “The administration is free to move forward with the subsequent steps,” the individual said, requesting that their identity not be revealed.
Both countries are anticipated to discuss the following steps in moving forward with the pact during Vice President Biden’s visit to India in September for the G20 conference. An administration official of senior rank stated, “I don’t want to steal any of the thunder from our meetings,” despite not being able to affirm the current state of the legislative process. We are working towards and expecting the essential actions to be taken on both sides in order to be able to move forward with this historic agreement.
The Department of State did not provide a statement regarding the issue. The following is an excerpt from a statement made by a spokesperson: “We are prohibited from publicly commenting on the specifics of commercial defence trade licencing activities.”
GE Aerospace and HAL signed a memorandum of understanding to produce F-414 jet engines in India for the under-development light combat aircraft (LCA) Mk2 on June 22, the day of Prime Minister Narendra’s Modi’s historic state visit to Washington, DC, where he was accorded a ceremonial welcome in the White House before extensive bilateral talks and a state dinner. This historic visit took place on the same day that he was accorded a state dinner.
Because the United States considers technology related to jet engines to be a “crown jewel” and has not shared such technology with even its closest friends, the deal is significant. India, for its part, has fallen behind in jet engine technology; this is a gap that may be bridged by the agreement, which would assist reinforce both India’s aerial capability, especially in light of the precarious position with China at the Line of Actual Control, and India’s objective of developing a domestic defence industrial base.
Officials in the US government have admitted that the GE deal might serve as a model for future transactions. This is because the agreement helps answer India’s worries around the transfer of technology and co-production, and it also fits in with the American ambitions of more closely integrating the defence ecosystems and platforms of both countries.
This transaction is expected to be valued approximately one billion dollars and will involve an 80% transfer of technology (ToT).
According to Indian government insiders who are aware with the situation, the development of the engines would result in the new fighter jet having an indigenous content of approximately 75%, which is higher than the 55%-60% found in the LCA Mk-1A and the 50% found in the previous models.
The agreement with GE Aerospace to produce 99 F-414 engines under licence is likely to be signed during the current fiscal year, and the first group of engines will be made in India three years after that, according to the officials, who asked not to be named. The transaction is expected to be finalised within the current financial year.
When GE and India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) first started talking about the possibility of producing the engines in the nation, more than a decade ago, many of the important areas that the ToT would cover were completely off-limits. The ToT will cover all 11 of these areas. As reported by PTI in the past, back then the United States agreed to transfer only 58% of the technology, which prevented India from gaining access to a variety of important engine technologies.
The F-414 engine is an improved version of the F-404 engine that is already installed in both of the existing LCA models, the Mk1 and the Mk1A. IAF officials inked a deal for 83 Mk-1A planes in February of 2021, bringing the total number of LCA versions that have been bought to 123.
The initial operational clearance (IOC) and the more sophisticated final operational clearance (FOC) variants are both present in the IAF’s early forty LCA Mk-1s that were ordered. Because India intends to produce approximately 130 of these types of fighter jets, the Light Combat Aircraft Mk-2 will be an essential component of the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) future combat capability.
The government decided to move forward with the development of the LCA Mk-2 and approved 10,000 crore of funding for the project in the previous year. The indigenously built and developed Mk-2 fighter will be the LCA variant with the highest level of technological advancement. In addition to having a more potent GE-414 engine, it will have superior radar, improved avionics and electronics, and it will be able to carry a greater amount of weapons payload.
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According to the officials, the LCA Mk2 will have increased range, enhanced survivability, improved situational awareness for pilots, enhanced capabilities that are network oriented, and the ability to easily move from one mission to another.
The 17.5-ton fighter will be able to reach a top speed of 1.8 Mach, which is far faster than the 13.5-ton LCA Mk-1A, which can only reach 1.6 Mach. In comparison to the Mk1A, which had a payload capacity of 3.5 tonnes, the new aircraft will have a payload capacity of 6.5 tonnes, and it will be able to carry a variety of armaments, including air-to-air missiles with a range beyond visual range, air-to-ground missiles, heavy precision guided weapons, and conventional bombs.
