AMCA engine talks hit roadblock, US company raises cost threefold

NEW DELHI: India’s negotiations with US’s General Electric (GE) over the F414 fighter jet engine have hit a roadblock after the cost of the proposed US engine for India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) rose sharply, raising concerns about timelines for the country’s most-ambitious fifth-generation fighter programme.“The F414 engine was initially estimated to cost around Rs 70-80 crore per unit, but GE has now quoted prices almost three times higher,” a DRDO source told TOI.Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), nodal agency for AMCA project, requires 15 F414 engines for five flying prototypes. As ADA has frozen the airframe design of AMCA around the engine, GE knows that India’s engine options for its new stealth aircraft are limited.As India’s own Kaveri engine project is no more meant for the stealth fighter jet and is only confined to unmanned aerial vehicle ‘Ghatak’, govt, which has kept Rs 15,000 crore initial budget for the project, is likely to face cost escalation if it is compelled to buy the F414 engine at a higher cost.The same F414 engine has also been planned to power the indigenous HAL-produced Tejas Mk-2.4-5-generation fighter jet later.Under the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued last month, the final selected industry partner out of the three shortlisted companies — Tata Advanced Systems, an L&T-BEL-Dynamatic consortium, and a Bharat Forge-BEML consortium — is expected to achieve the aircraft’s maiden flight within 30 months of contract signing.The AMCA project aims to achieve air superiority through supercruise capabilities and AI-assisted avionics. The advanced fighter will feature advanced radar-absorbent materials, serpentine air intakes, and internal weapons bays for low observability. Once ready, it will carry 1,500 kg of internal weapons and 5,500 kg externally.The five prototypes are expected to undertake 1,800 test sorties in seven years to validate the fighter’s flight-control systems, stealth characteristics, sensors, radar, weapons integration and propulsion performance. Changing the F414 engine at this juncture is not an option with AMCA. The first batch of AMCA is expected to be ready around 2034 or 2035.China is already operating two primary fifth-generation stealth fighter jets, Chengdu J-20 and the Shenyang J-35, and Pakistan is also planning to buy 40 Chinese J-35 stealth aircraft.