India seeks local production of GE F414 engines for Tejas MK2

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's second visit to India in less than six months. It puts critical military technology cooperation in focus. From AI semiconductors to advanced fighter jet engines, India is seeking capabilities that will shape its future military strength. But with American engine delays affecting India's jet programs, will Washington go beyond selling weapons and share the technology to build them as well? Here's our report on Defense Pulse today. India's next generation of weapons will depend on quantum technology, artificial intelligence, advanced semiconductors, military space systems, and fighter jet engines. These technologies are among the most closely guarded in the world, and they are at the center of a growing strategic partnership between Washington and New Delhi. As U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits India, in February 2025, Prime Minister Modi and President Trump launch trust. The initiative builds on the earlier iSET framework, with cooperation covering AI, semiconductors, quantum technology, space, and critical minerals. For India's military, these technologies have direct applications. Advanced ships power radars and missile guidance. AI supports drone operations and battlefield surveillance. Quantum technologies could strengthen secure communications and sensing. But one of India's most pressing defense technology challenges is already visible in its fighter aircraft program. The indigenous Tejas MK-1A has faced production delays linked to the supply of American GE F-404 engines. India also plans to use the more powerful GE F-414 engine for the Tejas MK-2. In June 2023, GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics signed an agreement to pursue manufacturing of the F-414 fighter engine in India. Three years later, technical discussions have advanced, but the final production contract is still awaited. The engine is critical for India's Tejas MK2 and the initial version of its fifth generation, AMCA fighter. And until the contract is signed, India cannot begin establishing the planned production line. The big test for India-US defense cooperation is now turning that promise of technology transfer into engines built in India. India needs both faster delivery of existing weapons and the industrial capability to develop future systems. Rubio's visit brings that technology partnership back into focus. The next milestones will be concrete engine production agreements, technology approvals and deliveries that support India's fighter programs. Air Vice Marshal, which technologies should India priorities? Yeah, Shivam, first of all, thank you very much for having me over and wish all your viewers a happy Dussehra. You know, it's the right time to talk about these things because we have to kill the evil shortly. And, you know, this visit, while there is a lot of importance given in many sectors, including different sectors your commentator just now covered. Various technologies that India is looking for from US and it will give a boost to discussions going ahead with getting these technologies. Very rightly said and highlighted regarding engine technology that we have been looking for. First of all, hastening up the supply of F404 engines and thereafter contract for 414 engine. Alongside, there are many other technologies which go into defense manufacturing and defense capability building. And those have been listed out by your speakers, so I will not get into covering those technologies. But yes, we have been discussing with U.S. to give us the niche technologies that we uh need and uh you know there have been discussions going on but on ground when we see the transfer of technology taking place there have been delays or there have been a lot of setbacks to India uh as far as these technologies can are concerned uh give you uh just uh getting back to the aircraft engines yeah F404 has been on program since early 2000 and uh we were promised that uh you know these engines were given to us and when we actually started manufacturing stages because we know that there have been undue delay in getting this into production but as and when we required the engines there have been a lot of uh you know slack in uh engine uh supply and therefore all these contracts we keep blaming HAL for everything but yes HAL also has to to get the engines from outside from US so when you look at the total numbers that are supposed to come out and what have come out till now vis-a-vis what the Americans had promised and the way they have supplied to us in terms of supply chain i think there has been a lot of backlog and that and subsequently going ahead with production in India and getting on to a 414 contract. That, of course, will be discussed during this visit and is being discussed during this visit. And that will give a lot of boost as far as HAL engine production in India, engine programs, various engine programs in India. I think we will hear more about it once these things are concluded. So, engines are definitely going to be a priority as one would expect, Air Vice-Marshal Nautkar I'll also have that graphic on our screens, just giving a timeline of what you initially mentioned about the Tejas procuring of jet engines. And as we have those details on the screen, India's Tejas program, Air Vice Marshal, it has faced delays. As you mentioned, the GE F404 engine supplies, they are crucial for India. The official trust and that's based on strategic technology. It's a framework between India and the US. it does not promise a faster jet engine delivery or any such schedule. But can it help in speeding up the jet engine deliveries or its production to India? Because it is that crucial. I wanted your thoughts on that. Yeah, see, these kind of visits do matter wherein we discuss as to what was promised, what is the present situation and what is required to be done. So definitely it is going to be one of the key points during the Foreign Secretary-level discussions and beyond. My point, Shivam, is that, you know, in the past we have been promised. Presently, we are discussing these things, which is already late. While F404 issue has, as I understand, sitting outside the system, F404 issue has been resolved and the supplies have started. and they are not as fast as we want, but at least the supplies are started and the production is not likely to be held up. But what next is F414? Now that, you know, the plan was to have this production done in India. At least a major technology transfer was to happen and that contract is not yet signed. I hope this visit gives a real boost to that plan because, you know, the subsequent programs of AMCA and, you know, a fifth-generation fighter depends on these things because you're aware that Safran and Rolls-Royce is working closely with DRDO to sign a contract for, you know, such capability engine. So there are competitions that are happening, but what really HAL had, you know, zeroed onto F414 engine, whether that will come or not, or ADA had recommended certain engine, whether those will come or not in timelines that we desire is yet to be seen. I feel that this kind of and the 414 is even along with the AMCA, of course, even for that, they just mark to the timeline for that joint production. It's now some reports are even suggesting up forwarded up to 2029. So, you know, one would hope some kind of input comes in on a fresh timeline, which really zeroes in on when this is going to start. But coming back to technologies, Air Vice Marshal Nayak, do you really see the Americans parting with their military technologies? How much of a difference would U.S. technology transfer make to India's combat capabilities? See, you heard Air Chief Marshal, outgoing chief, saying in Jodhpur that you don't let us come anywhere near your aircraft. Why should we? There were two mentions of that. There were two mentions. There were two separate mentions of that, that he wouldn't even let us come close to the cockpit of the jet. But it was a swipe. But he said a lot in that statement, too. Exactly. So we have to be realistic that no country is going to share niche technology with you. You have to develop it yourself. And if you have to do that, yes, you require a little bit of push. You require a little bit of, you know, your own R&D. And also you have to kind of collaborate or cooperate, collaborate. You have to, you know, use various approaches. to develop your own capability and while you are developing your own capability, you need to have the military capability build up as per the threat assessment. So now, since you asked me a specific question related to whether Americans are going to give us niche technology, the plain and simple answer is no, they will never part with niche technology to India. And in fact, they have, you know, PACAF Chief General Snyder very categorically said that there are certain, you know, there are certain boxes that we need to, you know, have our knowledge sharing or capability sharing staying within those boxes so when we say capability exchanges to my mind it will come in come in very slowly and nobody is going to share their niche technology with you the way we feel in you know open sources that we talk about these technologies coming to us they have to be you know taken with a pinch of salt these statements sir going forward let me extract a little from your personal experience because that will benefit the audiences like nobody else can you led india's participation and the Cope Thunder exercise, this was held in Alaska in 2004. Having seen American air warfare technology, seen their operations firsthand, how far has India-U.S. military cooperation progressed since then? And where does the biggest technological gap still exist? You know, Ashwin, yeah, that was the pioneering exercise in 2004 wherein we participated in the exercise Cope Thunder 04 in Alaska. And from there, if you come to the latest Tarang Shakti that got concluded, we have come a long way because, you know, we had never taken our fighters out. And today, at the drop of a hat, we can go anywhere in the world. So in terms of cooperating with various air forces in the world, we have come a long way. We have, you know, exchanges, we have bilateral, multilateral exercises regularly being conducted now. So we have definitely come a long way. In terms of technological gaps, yes, we have on those fronts also, you know, in last two, two and a half decades, we have again traveled, covered a lot of distance from where we were in 2004 and where we are now, What we are talking about in terms of drones, in terms of AI, in terms of, you know, integrating various systems, ground, air-based system, aerospace-based systems, our communication systems, our air defense networking. You know, from where we were those days, where we have come now is a hell of a jump. And if today, if I was to go back to the cockpit and participate, it is extremely difficult for me to even understand what is going on if I was to go back to 2004. So in many technologies, we have come a long way in terms of participating in a cooperative way with various air forces which are way ahead of us. Whether it is the Russian Air Force, whether it is the U.S. Air Force, whether it is any of the European countries which have got advanced technological platforms. you know, platforms. What actually stands out in these kind of cases is the man behind the machine is, you know, plus minus. What we say in layman's term, there is a difference of 19 weeks between the two. But when you talk in terms of machine and advanced technologies used by those machines, it's tremendous. And we have Rafale with us. You know, the way the systems have been integrated on Rafale, The way our air defense system proved themselves in terms of, you know, air defense capability of taking on so many simultaneous targets coming at us. So all these things we have advanced, whether we are at par with advanced countries or advanced air forces or advanced network, you know, platforms and advanced and network air defense systems, we are yet to catch up. Sir, and if I were to just quote former Air Chief RKS Bhadoria, he told us here in the studio that the Indian Air Force has always achieved more than what it has available to it. And I think that's true for the entire Indian military ecosystem as well. Thank you so much for joining us here, Air Vice Marshal Nanodkar. Pleasure speaking with you. Thank you, Shiva.