General Electric, HAL Sign MoU To Build Fighter Jet Engines For IAF

General Electric Aerospace on Thursday signed MoU with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force.

The development comes amid Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ongoing state visit to the United States.

"The agreement includes the potential joint production of GE Aerospace's F414 engines in India, and GE Aerospace continues to work with the US government to receive the necessary export authorisation for this," the US firm said in a statement.

It described the Memorandum of Understanding with HAL as a "key element" in strengthening defence cooperation between India and the US.

"This is a historic agreement made possible by our longstanding partnership with India and HAL," said H Lawrence Culp Jr, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GE and CEO of GE Aerospace.

What GE Aerospace and HAL agreement includes?

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between GE and HAL includes the potential joint production of GE Aerospace's F414 engines in India, and GE Aerospace continues to work with the US government to receive the necessary export authorisation for this.

"The effort is part of the Indian Air Force's Light Combat Aircraft Mk2 program," GE Aerospace said in a release on Thursday.

"Our F414 engines are unmatched and will offer important economic and national security benefits for both countries as we help our customers produce the highest quality engines to meet the needs of their military fleet," Culp Junior said.

How is GE-HAL new agreement beneficial?

For moren than four decades, GE Aerospace has been operating in India with wide engagement in the industry including engines, avionics, services, engineering, manufacturing, and local sourcing.

"In addition to potential new work in India, a number of US facilities that currently support work on the F414 engine will see additional volume as a result of today's announcement," GE Aerospace said.

"Today's agreement will advance GE Aerospace's earlier commitment to build 99 engines for the Indian Air Force (IAF) as part of the LCA Mk2 program. It puts the company in a strong position to create a family of products in India, including the F404 engine that currently powers the LCA Mk1 and LCA Mk1A aircraft and GE Aerospace's selection for the prototype development, testing and certification of the AMCA program with our F414-INS6 engine," GE Aerospace said.

"In addition, GE will continue to collaborate with Indian government on the AMCA Mk2 engine program," the release added.