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After some mixed messages from the defense ministry, the Mark 2 took a major step closer to being realized in February 2017, when General Electric provided the first two F414-INS6 engines for Mark 2 test aircraft, with six more to follow. If the Mark 2 enters production, a total of ninety-nine engines may be delivered as part of a $600 million deal. The improved propulsion might not only make the Tejas Mark 2 more viable for carrier takeoff, but increase its maximum weapons-load capacity by 25 percent, to eleven thousand pounds.

The tender also stipulated transferring up to 60 percent of the F414 engine technology to India—with GE claiming it is ready to transfer more than 50 percent. This is also significant, as India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment has been working for two decades on domestic Kaveri K9 and K10 turbofans, which it hopes will one day be ready for installation on the Tejas or the HAL AMCA stealth fighter currently under development. Additional foreign technology could help spur the engines’ development—indeed, after paying $2 million for consultation with a French firm, the GTRE estimates that new Kaveri engines may be ready for testing in 2019.

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