GE Aerospace, HAL sign agreement for manufacturing fighter jet engines in India

Washington: During Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the United States, the world was focused on the defence-related agreements between the two countries. US company, ‘GE Aerospace’ and Indian company, ‘Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’ (HAL) signed a deal to manufacture fighter aircraft engines. Along with this agreement, the two countries may also sign a contract for manufacturing advanced versions of the ‘Reaper drone’, ‘Striker armoured fighting vehicles’, and ‘M777 Howitzer’, according to US sources. Indian analysts claim that this visit of Prime Minister Modi will take the defence cooperation between India and the United States to new heights, greatly benefiting India. Along with this, there will be more important announcements regarding the defence cooperation between the two countries, the White House has claimed.

Moreover, Prime Minister Modi’s three-day visit to the US is said to further strengthen bilateral cooperation between India and the US in various fields. It also includes the defence and technology sectors. Besides, the defence cooperation between India and the US has developed rapidly in the last two decades, and the two countries have signed defence agreements worth billions of dollars. In 2016, the United States restored India’s ‘Major Defense Partner’ status. After this, the pace of defence cooperation between the two countries increased. By the year 2020, the defence trade of these two countries had reached $20 billion.

Against this background, the international community is eyeing the defence deal signed during the Prime Minister’s visit. The announcement of GE Aerospace, a major US defence sector company, on Thursday marks the beginning of such agreements. ‘GE Aerospace’ and India’s ‘Hindustan Aeronautics’ (HAL) Company will jointly manufacture the ‘F414’ engines required for fighter jets. The US company said that both companies had signed an agreement.

The ‘F414 engine is crucial for India’s indigenous fighter ‘Tejas aircraft and will be jointly manufactured in India, and its technology will also be provided to India. For this reason, the US company said this agreement is considered very important for the defence cooperation between India and the United States. The US will tie up with India to provide advanced ‘MQ-9 Reaper drones’, ‘Striker armoured fighting vehicles’ and ‘M777 howitzers’ apart from fighter jet engines, sources have indicated.

Meanwhile, Micron, a US semiconductor company, has announced an investment of $800 million in India. Apart from this, the US company, ‘Applied Materials’ has announced to set up a new semiconductor centre in India. India will also be a part of the ‘Artemis Accords’ agreement proposed by the US for cooperation in the space sector, the White House said.