Incidentally, India has never acquired any offensive combat jet platform from American companies, even though it has acquired more than $28 billion worth of military equipment from the US since 2008. It has never been comfortable with that proposition, given the strings that usually come attached with such a deal. While India has little option than to wait for GE Aerospace to deliver the engines for the rest of the Tejas MK-1A (83 in total) in order, should India opt for 97 more MK-1A with the same GE F-404 engines, given the engine delay experience, is the key question to be asked. Even if India does so, considering GE Aerospace streamlines engine supply, will there be a surety of supply if US-India relations reach a stalemate, as it appears to be, in spite of many areas of convergence and shared mutual interests? The more pertinent issue that deserves attention is the statement of HAL CMD that the deal with GE Aerospace for F-414 engine for Tejas MK-2, will be sealed by March 2026.