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Chandigarh: What was once hailed as one of the most consequential defence technology agreements between India and the United States is now in danger of unravelling. This crisis stems from a deepening impasse in negotiations with US aerospace giant General Electric (GE) over the transfer of technology needed to locally manufacture its GE-F414 fighter engines.

According to industry officials familiar with the negotiations, the estimated cost of each GE-F414 engine has reportedly risen nearly threefold, from around Rs 70-80 crores to well over Rs 200 crores during recent commercial discussions between GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) over the local manufacture of the power plants under a technology transfer agreement.

Equally troubling is GE’s reported demand that India invest around $800 million (approximately Rs 7,576 crore) to establish a dedicated domestic F414 production and assembly line – a requirement that, along with the steep increase in engine prices, has significantly slowed progress towards what was once expected to be the early conclusion of the agreement. This comes despite some progress in negotiations over technology transfer, with contentious issues relating to the transfer of critical high-end know-how, intellectual property rights (IPR) and US export control restrictions still remaining unresolved, industry sources said.

What makes the GE-F414 key?

The 98-kilonewton (kN) afterburning F414 turbofan engine was selected to power the Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) advanced Tejas Mk-2, intended to replace several ageing fighter fleets while bridging the capability gap between the Tejas Mk-1/1A and heavier platforms such as the Rafale and Su-30MKI. Its importance extends well beyond the Tejas Mk-2, as the F414 has also been shortlisted to power India’s next-generation twin-engine combat aircraft programmes – the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) for the IAF and the Indian Navy’s Twin-Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF).

Military aviation industry sources warn that the logjam over engine costs and technology transfer has acquired far greater significance, with the potential to disrupt three major fighter programmes for the IAF and the Indian Navy. Since fighter aircraft are designed around their power plants, the GE-F414 effectively forms the engineering core of all three programmes.

Any collapse of the agreement, experts say, would not only require India to procure an alternative engine but also force a fundamental redesign of the Tejas Mk-2, AMCA and TEDBF, involving fresh structural engineering, modifications to air intakes, fuel systems, flight........

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