Made-In-India Jet Engines A Step Closer As HAL, GE Near Deal For TEJAS MK-2 Fighter Jet: Report Sunday, August 24, 2025 by Indian Defence News

India is moving closer to achieving a long-pursued breakthrough in indigenous jet engine manufacturing, as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and US defence giant General Electric Aerospace (GE) prepare to commence commercial negotiations on producing the advanced F414 jet engine in India, reported ET News.

This development is particularly crucial for the TEJAS MK-2 fighter jet program, as the new power-plant will serve as its mainstay. According to senior officials quoted by The Indian Express, the discussions, which have been underway for nearly two years, are now entering the final stage and could culminate in a formal agreement within the next three months.

The deal was first publicly announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the United States in June 2023, and subsequently secured political clearance from the US Congress in August that year.

Once the commercial contract is signed, production of the engines on Indian soil is expected to begin within three years, aligning with TEJAS MK-2 prototype testing and the aircraft's production timeline.

At the heart of these negotiations lies what India has long demanded -- technology transfer. GE Aerospace has reportedly agreed to transfer 80 percent of the technology critical for the F414 engine. This represents a marked leap from the 58 percent technology share that was offered back in 2012 during previous discussions.

The technologies slated for transfer extend across several high-technology manufacturing domains such as thermal and corrosion-resistant coatings for hot-section components, machining and coating processes for single-crystal turbine blades, production techniques for nozzle guide vanes, and blisk (bladed disk) machining. These are considered vital not only for building India's capability to manufacture advanced jet engines but also for ensuring long-term efficiency, durability, and performance of the engines in service.

Despite these significant gains, some critical technologies will remain outside the scope of the HAL-GE agreement. These include the highly sensitive compressor design, combustion chamber technology, and turbine core -- collectively regarded as the "heart" of any modern jet engine.

Internationally, such technologies are closely guarded, with only a handful of countries -- such as the United States, Russia, France, and the UK -- having mastered them fully.

However, Indian officials are optimistic that the deal still represents an unprecedented breakthrough for the country's aero-engine ambitions. They believe the enhanced partnership will substantially elevate India's defence industrial base by giving it the know-how to produce, maintain, and eventually innovate within complex aerospace technologies.

Importantly, defence ministry sources stressed that the current diplomatic tensions between India and the United States in other areas are not expected to derail defence-sector cooperation, particularly projects of such strategic significance.

Parallel to the HAL-GE effort, India has also embarked on another critical program with global implications -- the development of a next-generation high-thrust engine for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the country's upcoming fifth-generation fighter program.

India has taken a significant leap toward aerospace self-reliance through a strategic collaboration with French aerospace major Safran to co-develop and manufacture jet engines for its Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the country's indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter jet.

Announced by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in August 2025, this partnership marks a milestone in India's defence manufacturing, focusing on producing a powerful new-generation jet engine domestically with comprehensive technology sharing and local production capabilities.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking recently at The Economic Times World Leaders Forum, underscored the significance of these collaborations in building self-reliance in defence manufacturing.

The AMCA program, backed by the Cabinet Committee on Security with a budget of ₹15,000 crore, aims to create a 25-tonne, twin-engine stealth multi-role fighter capable of super-cruise, internal weapons carriage, next-generation avionics, and sensor fusion to match or surpass global fifth-generation fighters such as the U.S. F-35 and Russia's Su-57. The aircraft will be developed in two variants: the Mark 1 variant powered by existing engines and the Mark 2 featuring the advanced, high-thrust engine co-developed with Safran.

For this strategic project, the DRDO has selected French major Safran as a key partner, and negotiations have concluded around a framework for co-development.

Unlike the TEJAS MK-2 engine deal, the DRDO-Safran arrangement is expected to include full technology transfer, thereby equipping India with the capability to design and manufacture advanced high-thrust engines indigenously in the long run. The project, however, still awaits final approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), a move that would mark its official sanctioning at the political level.

He highlighted how joint ventures with global leaders such as GE and Safran will not only meet India's immediate requirements but also serve as a technological foundation for future indigenous programmes across the aerospace and defence sector.

Taken together, the HAL-GE and DRDO-Safran projects represent a dual-track strategy: while one collaboration focuses on meeting the pressing needs of the TEJAS MK-2 program with advanced but existing technology, the other is aimed at co-developing breakthrough next-generation technology for platforms like AMCA.

If these initiatives proceed as planned, India could substantially reduce its dependency on foreign-sourced engines over the next decade, a long-standing vulnerability in its military aviation ecosystem.

The combined impact of localised F414 engine production and the indigenous development of a high-thrust engine with Safran has the potential to transform India into one of the few nations with advanced jet-engine design, development, and manufacturing capabilities.

This milestone would mark a significant stride toward achieving the Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) vision, specifically in the strategically vital aerospace domain.

Based On ET Now Report

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