India has completed a deal for 99 General Electric F414 engines, the powerplant for the planned Hindustan Aeronautics Tejas Mk II Light Combat Aircraft.
In a call with Flightglobal, an industry source close to the 99 engine deal confirmed that it has been completed. Indian media reports peg the value of the deal at Indian rupees (Rs) 30 billion ($560 million).
The engines will power the Tejas Mk II to be operated by the Indian air force. Some of the powerplants could also be used to power a naval variant of the aircraft.
In October 2010, General Electric defeated the Eurojet consortium in a contest to provide the Tejas Mk II. Under the 2010 agreement, GE Aviation was to provide an initial batch of F414-INS6 engines, with the remainder to be produced in India.
The Tejas Mk I uses GE's less powerful F404 engine, as do early examples of the developmental naval Tejas.
Source: Flight International