A Sea Harrier of the Indian Navy flies past an F15E of the US Air Force at the Aero India 2005 airshow. (AFP)

Bangalore, Feb. 10: The Indian Air Force will shortly sign a contract to buy 20 homegrown Light Combat Aircraft christened Tejas, which will be powered by American engines.

?We hope to receive the first Tejas from HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) in the next three to four years,? Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi said at Aero India 2005 here today.

The air force chief said he would prefer, as a customer, to fly LCAs powered by the indigenous Kaveri engine that the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), Bangalore, has designed.

But the delay in getting the engine ready means that the first 20 Tejas will be powered by F-404 engines imported from General Electric in the US.

?I hope the engines (Kaveri) will be ready by the end of the decade. GTRE has said the tests will be completed by then. The alternative is to fly LCAs with F-404 engines,? Tyagi said.

The fighter jets, each costing Rs 100 crore, would be inducted into the air force in 2008-09 but the first weaponised squadron would fly in 2010-12. The air chief said the contract with HAL would include an option to acquire 20 more LCAs.

?Three versions of the aircraft are undergoing development flight trials. Till date, they have collectively flown 357 hours (since the maiden flight in January 2001). They have to fly 1,500 hours for certification and other clearance process,? Tyagi added.

The contract for LCAs would not be affected by the air force?s decision to shop abroad (in the US, France, Russia and Sweden) for 126 fighter jets, the air chief said.

The Centre has earmarked Rs 7,000 crore for the design and manufacture of LCA. Last fall, the budget rose from Rs 5,500 crore after the defence ministry decided to pump in Rs 1,300 crore more to overcome glitches in the Kaveri.

The engine had flopped during ground tests at the State Institute for Aerodynamics Research, Moscow, in September last year.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation had originally acquired four F-404 engines for two technology demonstrators and two LCA prototypes. In 2003, it chose to acquire 40 more engines while awaiting completion of Kaveri?s development and trial.

So far, two demonstrators and one prototype have been rolled out as a result of joint efforts of the Aeronautical Development Agency and HAL. The second prototype would be test-flown in the next six to eight months, HAL sources said.

Two more prototypes ? the naval version and a twin-seater trainer ? would be designed later.

The sources said the Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad, would design Astra, a long-range missile, for the LCA.

HAL also plans to expand its presence in civil aviation through a contract with the Sukhoi Design Bureau, Russia, to partner a Russian consortium in the manufacture of the Russian Regional Jet.