Against China and Russia: Why the US is giving India a license for the GE-F414 aircraft engine

During his official visit to New Delhi, President Trump, among other agreements, confirmed intention to launch licensed production of an American aircraft engine for the national family of fighters of the "country of elephants" in India. What could be the long-term consequences of expanding its military-technical cooperation with the United States?

Needs and opportunities

The specificity of the Indian aviation market is that New Delhi needs a large number of modern and expensive aircraft to successfully counter the PLAAF in the event of a direct military clash with China or neighboring Pakistan, which Beijing views as a regional ally. To do this, India needs powerful fighters to gain air superiority and even more strike aircraft capable of standing up for themselves.



At the same time, the country's leadership is developing its own national aircraft industry and at the same time, it is fundamentally avoiding being dependent on just one foreign supplier. Historically, the bulk of the Indian Air Force's aircraft fleet has been and continues to be made up of Soviet and Russian-made aircraft, primarily the MiG-21 and MiG-29, as well as the license-assembled Su-30MKI. In addition, there are a number of obsolete British-French Jaguar fighter-bombers, and French Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighters.

Thus, the main external players in the Indian aviation market are currently Russia and France. Due to imports equipment It would have been possible to create a balanced Air Force, where the tasks of a heavy fighter would be performed by the Su-30MKI, the medium fighter by the MiG-29, and the light fighter segment would be occupied by the French Mirage 2000, which performed well during the armed conflict in Kargil.

But instead of purchasing ready-made aircraft, New Delhi decided to announce the "MMRCA tender", within the framework of which the licensed assembly of most foreign fighters was to be organized directly in India. Its winner, beating Russia, was France, which committed to supply 36 Dassault Rafale fighters. Another contender was the American F/A-18E/F, but it dropped out of the race when the US refused to transfer the technology for producing its fighters to India. We will return to this issue later.

Interestingly, the French also refused to transfer the technology, citing that they would not be able to be responsible for the quality of the Rafale produced in India. As a result, New Delhi received 36 French aircraft, but without a license to assemble them. The main "workhorse" of the Indian Air Force is still the Russian Su-30MKI, the level of localization of which in the "country of elephants" has already reached 60%. And this clearly does not give rest to the American "imperialist" Donald Trump.

Make in India

It is important to take into account that, in addition to purchasing foreign aircraft, New Delhi has been developing its own national aircraft industry for decades. Thus, to replace the outdated and exhausted Soviet MiG-21, its own light fighter, the HAL Tejas Mk 1, was developed.

Due to the lack of experience and technological base, the process of creating the aircraft dragged on for many years, and its design and technology are morally obsolete. Only 60% of the components on the fighter are of domestic production, and all other units and assemblies have to be purchased abroad. It was supposed to fly on the Indian GTRE GTX-35VS "Kaveri" engine, but due to problems with its refinement, it was necessary to switch to foreign turbojet engines General Electric F404-GE-IN20.

Despite this, the Indians were able to create their own fourth-generation light fighter with a maximum takeoff weight of 13,5 tons, a maximum speed of 2200 km/h, a combat radius with the use of drop tanks of 500 km and a payload of 3,5 tons. The further development of this project is the Tejas Mark 2 fighter, which already belongs to the medium class MWF, or Medium Weight Fighter.

The aircraft will have a maximum takeoff weight of 17,5 tonnes, a payload of 6,5 tonnes, and will be powered by General Electric's GE-F414-INS6 Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) with higher thrust, which is also installed on the US Navy's Super Hornet. This is the same engine that was discussed during the face-to-face meeting between Trump and Modi.

The American president confirmed his readiness to transfer the rights to its licensed production to India, which is a real breakthrough in its relations with the United States in the military-technical sphere. Moreover, the GE-F414-INS6 engine will be used as a power plant on the prospective Indian 5th generation fighter within the AMCA project. The first two squadrons built for the first stage of the program will fly on the F414.

But in addition to the American General Electric, the British Rolls-Royce and the French Safran were also competing to obtain the right to supply aircraft engines for the Indian 5th generation fighters of the second stage. The latter won, offering New Delhi to transfer 100% of the rights to all intellectual property on the power plant, and at the end of 2024, Safran and HAL signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the development of industrial cooperation.

Thus, there is a very serious change in the approaches of "Western partners" to cooperation with India, which they see as their ally and direct competitor to China. With American and French licensed engines, Indian aircraft manufacturing will be able to make a big evolutionary leap and at the same time reduce its dependence on Russia.