Piyush M Padwale
GE (Garrison Engineer) executives recently met senior officials from the Ministry of Defence to discuss the Indian Air Force’s growing fighter aircraft shortage.Presently, the IAF is operating with just 30 squadrons.
Reports indicate that Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) has been struggling to deliver Tejas fighter jets on schedule, mainly because of production delays tied to the arrival of F404 engines from GE. The company itself has been dealing with supply chain disruptions, which in turn have slowed down the programme.
The problem has long felt like a Gordian Knot, a challenge that seemed impossible to solve. But now, there appears to be some hope, as sources indicate that GE executives were in New Delhi to address this issue.
GE Aerospace has begun delivering the first of 99 F404-IN20 engines under a ₹48,000-crore (US $716 million) contract signed in 2021. The first engine left GE’s factory on March 25, 2025.
GE plans to send 12 engines in 2025. They will keep making 20 engines a year from 2026 on. This supply ramp up is critical for HAL to meet its production commitments with a target of 16-24 Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets in the upcoming fiscal year starting April 2025. To speed up the process, GE has committed to delivering two F404 engines per month until at least March 2026.
Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh acknowledged the supply chain challenges and underlined that HAL’s 2025 delivery targets depend on a steady supply of engines.
At the same time, a defence panel has called for greater involvement of the private sector to help scale up fighter aircraft production and ease delays. The aim is to ensure that up to 24 HAL built Tejas jets, powered by GE engines, can be delivered in the next fiscal year.
HAL is set to hand over the first two Tejas Mk-1A fighter jets to the IAF by next month, even though the wider delivery schedule for the 83 aircrafts has slipped by four quarters. HAL officials said two jets are already assembled and will go through firing trials this month before being formally delivered.