According to Bloomberg citing India's informed officials on the 25th, India is considering choosing French-made engines due to the slow progress of negotiations with the United States on the joint production of Indian "glorious" MK-2 fighter aircraft engines.

Several Indian officials said India was in talks with the French Air Force Summit Group on the issue of fighter aircraft engines. They did not specify whether India would buy these engines or seek joint production. The officials added that despite recent slowdown in talks with the United States, the two countries are still in talks on joint production of F-414 engines.

According to Bloomberg, India plans to build 200 "Mk-2" fighters to replace the British-made "American Tiger" and French-made "Fantastic 2000" fighters, both of which are still in service in India but may soon retire.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Institute, India is the world¡¯s second largest arms importer, but Prime Minister Modi¡¯s goal is to change the current shortage by pushing to produce military hardware at home. Earlier this year, India for the first time allowed domestic private companies to design and develop advanced aircraft to replace an aging fleet.

Bloomberg mentioned that previously, US President Trump imposed a 50% tariff on India, and India-US relations are facing the most difficult period in decades. Despite this, the two sides are trying to maintain stable defense cooperation.

Prior to the announcement, the Indian Ministry of Defense had not responded to the matter, Bloomberg said, the media representative of the Summit group declined to comment.

According to the British Defense Weekly, the McK-2 was designed as an improved version of the fourth-generation McK-1, aimed at providing the Indian Air Force with a 4.5-generation medium-sized fighter aircraft. India announced in August this year that it will cooperate with France to develop a new engine for the fifth-generation advanced medium-sized fighter (AMCA) and future models to address the long-standing "heart disease" problem faced by Indian Air Force fighters. India's "Connect" news site said that India has continued to strengthen military cooperation with France in recent years to adapt to the changes in former Indian-Russian and Indian-American relations.

According to a report by The Times of India on August 23, India's Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will soon submit an application to the Cabinet Security Committee to officially launch cooperation with Safran. The project will adopt the mode of 100% technology transfer to complete the design, development, testing, certification and production in India. The goal is to develop a new jet engine with a thrust of up to 120 kN, which will provide power for India's fifth-generation advanced medium-sized fighter and future aircraft. Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has confirmed this matter in public: "We have taken measures to promote the manufacture of fifth-generation fighter jets. At the same time, we have also started to produce engines in India. This project will be fully implemented in India in cooperation with Safran Group of France."