India announced the plan to rapidly build 5th generation indigenous fighter aircraft.
New Delhi: American company General Electric (GE) wants to join the race to make engines for India’s 5th generation fighter aircraft. GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp said this in an interview to ET. He said that India is a very important market for GE for both civil and defense aerospace business. Larry Culp said, ‘We are very interested in this.’ For this, he gave the example of making 404 engines for the indigenous Tejas aircraft. He said that there is a very strong relationship between India and America and that’s why GE is here and is ready to help in every possible way.
5th generation indigenous fighter aircraft
Just last month, India announced the plan to rapidly build 5th generation indigenous fighter aircraft. This announcement came a few days after Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. The most important part of this aircraft will be its powerful engine. To make it, India can work with a foreign company. It is believed that for this work, GE will face competition from companies like Safran and Rolls-Royce.
Tejas Mark-1A fighter aircraft
Larry Culp has expressed his desire to do more work in India. GE is also increasing the delivery of jet engines for the Tejas Mark-1A fighter aircraft to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. This work has been stalled for a long time. In March, GE delivered the first of the 99 F-404 engines to HAL. This delivery was delayed by almost two years. Culp said, ‘This is our intention and we have told this to everyone.’ They are working closely with their suppliers so that they can make more engines. He said that good progress is being made in this matter. They have seen a good increase in engine deliveries in the months of April and May as compared to the first quarter.
Demand and supply
Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh had recently expressed concern over the delay in the purchase of necessary military equipment and he had insisted on setting a time limit for this. Actually, the availability of military equipment and fighter jets is getting delayed because companies are not able to increase production. This causes difficulties for the armed forces in their preparation. Culp said that many steps are being taken to overcome this problem, but it will take time. He said that the demand is increasing every year, so the supply chain problem will remain for some time and it is a big challenge.
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