American defence major GE Aerospace on Wednesday said it delivered the first of 99 F-404 aircraft engines to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Tejas light combat jet programme. State-run HAL is procuring the engines to power the Mk-1A variant of the Tejas fighter jets.

In February 2021, the defence ministry sealed a Rs 48,000 crore deal with HAL for the procurement of 83 Tejas MK-1A jets for the IAF. The deliveries were to begin in March last year. The start of supply of the F404-IN20 engines by the US aircraft defence major is expected to help the HAL start delivery of the jets to the IAF.