Defence Ministry issues AMCA prototype bids, opens path for India’s second fighter jet production ecosystem
By Aroonim Bhuyan
New Delhi, May 28. The Ministry of Defence on May 27 issued Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to three shortlisted industry consortia for the development and production of five prototypes of India’s indigenous Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a major step towards establishing a second fighter aircraft manufacturing ecosystem in the country beyond Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
According to media reports, the ₹15,000-crore ($1.56 billion) project has shortlisted three competing groups – Tata Advanced Systems Limited, a consortium of Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Electronics Limited, and another led by Bharat Forge along with BEML Limited.
The fifth-generation stealth fighter is being designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency under the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The initial variants of the AMCA will be powered by the GE F414 engine from the United States, while future versions are expected to use more powerful 120 kN-class engines being jointly developed with France’s Safran under a Make in India framework.
The first prototype of the AMCA is expected to roll out by early 2027, with the maiden flight likely between 2028 and 2029. Serial production of the fighter aircraft is projected for the mid-2030s.
Earlier this month, the foundation stone was laid for the ₹15,803-crore Integration and Flight Testing Complex at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh after the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared the development of the five AMCA prototypes.
Designed as a fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter, the AMCA will feature supercruise capability, internal weapons bays, advanced avionics and artificial intelligence-enabled systems. The aircraft is expected to eventually join the ranks of advanced stealth fighters such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, Chengdu J-20 and Sukhoi Su-57.
The fighter is intended to gradually replace the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fleet in the coming decades. It is expected to carry indigenous long-range weapons including the Astra missile, along with air-to-surface missiles, laser-guided bombs and glide weapons integrated with advanced radar and sensor suites designed to reduce detection by hostile air defence systems.
The development comes even as the Indian Air Force (IAF) has proposed acquiring two squadrons of Russian Su-57 fighters through a ‘Make in India’ arrangement, though the government has yet to take a final decision on the proposal.
India is also in negotiations with France’s Dassault Aviation for the direct acquisition and subsequent domestic production of 114 fighter aircraft aimed at addressing the declining squadron strength of the IAF.
The AMCA programme is being seen as a critical test of India’s ability to build an indigenous fifth-generation combat aircraft with significant private-sector participation amid an evolving geopolitical and military landscape increasingly dominated by long-range precision air power.
