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Pataliputra said:

If the agreement for GE engines is already signed, India has the right to acquire them. Cancelling a signed agreement is something only a banana republic would do. If the USA was unwilling to provide the engines, they should not have entered into the contract initially. India could explore alternative engine sources or invest the resources in the ongoing development of indigenous Kaveri engine.
After a decade of rigorous negotiations, if the U.S. were to cancel this deal, India's trust in the USA for the supply of any military hardware would be severely compromised.

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And spot on you hit the nail, however in a typical way you again blame others for India's own faults, but let me help you:

If the agreement for GE engines is already signed, India has the right to acquire them

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= If that's the case, then you are correct but I'm pretty sure there is a contractual point, in which it is also mentioned until when India has to decide since GE is considering to close down production. As such if India in its typical way needs endless time to decide, you cannot expect others to keep the production line on that high level. It's exactly the same when Boeing announced to close the C-17 production line and then finally did so and right after India had received its final aircraft and the IAF was so happy with them, Indians again came up with the idea to order more.

Cancelling a signed agreement is something only a banana republic would do.

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= an endless and ultimately pointless protraction of decisions is a similar characteristic of a “banana republic”

If the USA was unwilling to provide the engines, they should not have entered into the contract initially.

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= see reply no. 1, but I'm pretty sure the US set a deadline until when India had to decide.

India could explore alternative engine sources or invest the resources in the ongoing development of indigenous Kaveri engine.

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= and that's the biggest fault in your argumentation! India - since they deliberately decided to go the Western way - had NO other choice after they initially decided in favour of the F414. As such no other Western engine maker had the slightest intention to once again enter the contest. And if the Kaveri would have been ever an option, why not doing it already???

After a decade of rigorous negotiations, if the U.S. were to cancel this deal, India's trust in the USA for the supply of any military hardware would be severely compromised.

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= ohhh ... poor India's trust has been compromised! What about the fact that India always drags its negotiations such much in duration, that some Western producers almost have mood - besides earning money - to enter a contest. Look at the original Rafale contract: To demand they should be built in India, with no access of Dassault staff to the production line but at the same time demanding Dassault should be responsible for the for the built-quality is as ridicolous like the latest suggestions for the naval Rafales, Dassoult should develop a folding wing so taht the fighter would fit into the hangar and on the lift!

Once again, to be very clear: I'm in no way interested in India-bashing, but I know the scene for decades now and if it were that tragic, it would actually be funny! India is to blame for almost all of its problems, it always drags everything out endlessly, revises and then re-tenders, then the cost framework doesn't fit or finally the IAF's requirements are different again. And all of this is spiced up with the political component: On the one side they don't want to make a clear cut with the East, but at the same time they like Western systems and then Indian lobbyists come into play again who think "made in India" is best anyway, which again results in a pointless delays. Conclusion: In everything, India act like a pubescent child according to the motto "I can, I want, ... but you are mean" with the claim of being a world power.

The thing is, the F404 is also supposed to be the engine used in the US T-7A trainer aircraft, it is also used in the South Korean T-50 for example. The concept that they will close down the line, like you are saying, is preposterous. At best they might be scaling down production until the T-7A starts serial production.

The F414 is not just used in some variants of Tejas either since it is also used in the Gripen NG.

Pataliputra said:

The submarines cost less than 3 billion USD, and I will share a more detailed article link about the Rafale Marines' price. My main point wasn't the specific cost of Rafales, whether 280, 380, or 410 million USD. Instead, I highlighted that India-specific Rafales are considerably more expensive than an F-35. Despite being 4th generation fighter jets, Rafales cost more than the 5th generation F-35. And, the Indian Air Force has not shown interest in purchasing F-35, even though it participated in the Bengaluru Airshow.

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From the publicly available data, It looks like F-35 unit cost is far lower than Rafale

And yes F-35 deals also include ammo and maintenance cost not just Rafale deals

gelgoog said:

The thing is, the F404 is also supposed to be the engine used in the US T-7A trainer aircraft, it is also used in the South Korean T-50 for example. The concept that they will close down the line, like you are saying, is preposterous. At best they might be scaling down production until the T-7A starts serial production.

The F414 is not just used in some variants of Tejas either since it is also used in the Gripen NG.

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Don't forget the Boramae (AMCA too if it ever sees the light of day?). In addition to T-50 and T-7A, Turkish Hürjet is equipped with F404s as well (as long as the Americans don't block engine sales). It simply doesn't make any sense to scale down the production since there's still a huge, increasing demand for F404/414.

gelgoog said:

The thing is, the F404 is also supposed to be the engine used in the US T-7A trainer aircraft, it is also used in the South Korean T-50 for example. The concept that they will close down the line, like you are saying, is preposterous. At best they might be scaling down production until the T-7A starts serial production.

The F414 is not just used in some variants of Tejas either since it is also used in the Gripen NG.

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CasualObserver said:

Don't forget the Boramae (AMCA too if it ever sees the light of day?). In addition to T-50 and T-7A, Turkish Hürjet is equipped with F404s as well (as long as the Americans don't block engine sales). It simply doesn't make any sense to scale down the production since there's still a huge, increasing demand for F404/414.

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But that's probably the point, we need to differ between F404 (with surely a larger demand) and the F414. ... India wants the F414 and this engines is no longer needed in large scale numbers. But again, I'm pretty sure GE / US offered a certain number of engines to be decided within a certain taimeframe ... and this constant back and forth and delaying a decision is surely not helpful.

Deino said:

But that's probably the point, we need to differ between F404 (with surely a larger demand) and the F414. ... India wants the F414 and this engines is no longer needed in large scale numbers.

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Why? India+Korea+maybe wanwan+Sweden&customers.
414 isn't going anywhere.

Gloire_bb said:

Why? India+Korea+maybe wanwan+Sweden&customers.
414 isn't going anywhere.

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@Deino That's what I mean, it'll probably get as much orders through these projects as It did during the Superbug production era. Therefore I don't see any change in scale happening.

My guess is that GE decided to reduce production because of lack of current engine orders. GE has been having economic difficulties because while the world was in lockdown, no one flew, and aircraft didn't get sold. A lot of those 404/414 projects still haven't ramped up and are currently at low production rates as well.

gelgoog said:

My guess is that GE decided to reduce production because of lack of current engine orders. GE has been having economic difficulties because while the world was in lockdown, no one flew, and aircraft didn't get sold. A lot of those 404/414 projects still haven't ramped up and are currently at low production rates as well.

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Projects priorities is also a thing. Sure that T-7A will be in production, facilities will be turning full speed for these and will not care about undecided India. Gripen is higher on the list too and probably Korea even TAI Hürjet .

Atomicfrog said:

Projects priorities is also a thing. Sure that T-7A will be in production, facilities will be turning full speed for these and will not care about undecided India. Gripen is higher on the list too and probably Korea even TAI Hürjet .

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The most significant engine order GE can secure is from India, where 180 new fighter jets are currently in production. An advanced trainer named HLFT-42 will also utilize the same engine. However, this opportunity has a 10-year horizon, as India plans to have an indigenous option ready after that period.