GE Aerospace ships four F404 engines to HAL for Tejas LCA Mk-1A
The delivery offers a modest boost to India's delayed fighter jet programme as the air force warns of critical fleet shortages.
US manufacturer GE Aerospace has delivered four more F404-IN20 engines to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), offering a modest boost to India’s struggling Tejas LCA Mk-1A fighter jet programme.
The shipment brings the total number of engines GE has supplied for the programme to 14. While the US firm is contracted to deliver 99 of the F404 engines, supply chain bottlenecks have left HAL’s production lines stalled. The Indian state-run plane maker has at least 25 completed Tejas airframes waiting inside its hangars, unable to fly because they lack engines.
The delays have drawn sharp criticism from India's military establishment. Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh warned that the slow rollout of the Tejas Mk-1A is directly hurting the Indian Air Force (IAF) as it struggles with depleting squadron numbers. The IAF is trying to shore up its combat fleet after retiring its ageing MiG-21 fighters last year.
The scale of the Tejas order
India has committed massive resources to the indigenous fighter. The IAF has placed two orders for a total of 180 Mk-1A jets, worth a combined ‹1.1 lakh crore. The first deal for 83 aircraft was signed in February 2021, and a second order for 97 was added in September 2025.
Under the initial 2021 contract, HAL was supposed to deliver the first fighter jet to the IAF in March 2024. It missed that deadline due to GE's engine delays and separate certification issues. So far, HAL has not delivered a single finished LCA Tejas Mk-1A to the air force.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently called on defence public sector undertakings to set more realistic project timelines, warning that delays lead to cost overruns and gaps in national defence.
What happens next for HAL
To meet its commitments, HAL needs a steady supply of engines. The company operates assembly lines in Bengaluru and Nashik capable of building 24 Tejas aircraft a year. It aims to deliver the first batch of planes this December, but that depends on GE meeting its projection of supplying more than 20 engines annually from 2027.
Key numbers
| What | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Engines shipped in latest batch | 4 | GE Aerospace |
| Total engines delivered so far | 14 | GE Aerospace |
| Total Tejas Mk-1A aircraft ordered | 180 | Indian Air Force |
| Completed airframes waiting for engines | 25 | Hindustan Aeronautics Limited |
| Combined value of Tejas orders | ‹1.1 lakh crore | Indian Air Force |
In this story
| Name | Role in the story |
|---|---|
| Hindustan Aeronautics Limited | State-run Indian aerospace company assembling the Tejas LCA Mk-1A. |
| Indian Air Force | The military customer waiting for the delivery of the fighter jets. |
| GE Aerospace | Manufactures and supplies the F404-IN20 engines for the Tejas fighter jet. |
