F404-GE-IN20 Engine Selected for Indian LCA

Released on Thursday, February 05, 2004

India's Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) awarded a $105 million contract to General Electric Aircraft Engines for engineering development of F404-GE-IN20 engines to be used on low rate production of Tejas aircraft, formerly known as the LCA (Light Combat Aircraft).

This contract includes funding for the supply of 17 F404-GE-IN20 engines as well as logistics support. The first engine will be delivered in 2006 with Tejas (LCA) aircraft production starting in 2005.

The Air Force and Navy of India now expect to procure around 250 LCAs, with 220 aircraft for the Air Force and 30 aircraft of a carrier-based variant to be developed for the Indian Navy. Other plans suggest that the total number of LCAs to be procured by the Indian Armed Forces could reach 400 aircraft.

To date, three Tejas/LCA prototypes powered by an F404-GE-F2J3 engine have completed more than 150 test flights, including supersonic flights. The LCA+F404 flight test program began in 2001 and 7 Tejas aircraft will be powered by the -F2J3 engine.

The F404-GE-IN20 engine selected to power the single-engine Tejas is a variant of F404-GE-402 engine featuring a redundant design and an advanced Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC). The carrier-based Tejas aircraft prototypes under development for the Indian Navy will be powered by the -IN20 engine as well.