Why is India lagging behind in developing a fifth-generation fighter aircraft
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced execution of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Programme that envisions the design and development of a fifth-generation combat aircraft in India.
Terming it a significant push towards enhancing India’s indigenous defence capabilities and fostering a robust domestic aerospace industrial ecosystem, it will be undertaken by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in partnership with the industry.
“The execution model approach provides equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on a competitive basis. They can bid either independently or as joint venture or as consortia. The bidder should be an Indian company compliant with the laws and regulations of the country,” a statement issued by the MoD read.
India’s slow response
The approval to develop a fifth-generation fighter comes when several countries have already initiated projects to develop a sixth-generation fighter and India’s own developmental programme in this arena is lagging. Induction of the indigenously developed Tejas fighter, a fourth-generation aircraft, is way behind schedule and just two squadrons are operational.
The Tejas was meant to replace several squadrons of the MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27 fighters that have been de-commissioned.
India, at present, does not have a fifth-generation fighter, whereas China has already inducted two types of these aircraft, the Chengdu J-20 and the Shenyang J-35, of which over 300 are said to be in service.
According to reports, Pakistan is procuring these fighters from China, which could give it a combat edge.
Fifth-gen tech
A fifth-generation fighter is an aircraft that incorporates major technologies developed during the first part of the 21st century. Currently, these are the most advanced fighters in service.
Their features include stealth; low-probability-of-intercept radar; agile airframes with supercruise performance, that is the ability to cruise at supersonic speed; advanced avionics features; artificial intelligence attributes and highly integrated mission computer systems capable of networking with other elements within the battle space for situational awareness, command, control and communications.
Russia’s Su-57 and the US’ F-22 and F-35 are other examples of fifth-generation fighters. Both the Su-57 and F-35 have flown over Indian skies during Aero-India-2025 in Bengaluru earlier this year and have been offered to India.
Indian inventory
At present, the most advanced aircraft in the Indian inventory is the French Rafale, categorised as a 4.5-generation platform. The Indian Air Force has 36 Rafales, equipping two squadrons. The Navy is also in the process of acquiring 36 maritime variants of Rafale for carrier-based as well as shore-based operations.
The Rafale, armed with long range stand-off weapons, is believed to have been deployed for carrying out precision strikes deep inside Pakistan during Operation Sindoor from May 7-10. Besides terrorist camps, key Pakistani airbases and air defence installations were struck by the Indian Armed Forces
The development of AMCA follows the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft. In April 2010, the Indian Air Force issued an Air Staff Qualitative Requirement (ASQR) for the AMCA, following which a feasibility study was launched by ADA in October 2010 with a fund allocation of Rs 100 crore.
The first demonstration of a 1:8 scale model was unveiled at the 2013 edition of Aero-India. Later, Rs 9,000 crore was allocated for the project. The development cost of the project is estimated to be approximately Rs 15,000 crore.
The AMCA will be a single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth, multirole combat aircraft, which will have different variants for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. Air superiority, deep penetration strikes, close air support, suppression of enemy air defence and electronic warfare are among its envisioned roles.
Going by the projected specifications, it would be the lightest among the fifth-generation aircraft, with its empty weight being around 12,000 kg as compared to 13,290 kg for the F-35, 17,000 kg for the J-20 and 18,500 kg for the Su57. Though slightly larger in size than the US aircraft, it would be smaller than the Chinese and Russian counterparts.
Future plans
The IAF plans to procure at least 125 AMCAs, equipping seven squadrons. These would eventually supplant the multi-role Russian-origin Su-30 MKI, at present are the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet. The IAF operates 260 Su-30s with 13 squadrons, with another 12 of these aircraft on order.
Experts estimate that it would be around 10 years before the AMCA enters service. Initially, five prototypes will be built by industry partners and the first flight, originally scheduled for 2017, is now expected only by 2028.
By this time, some other countries would have started deploying the sixth-generation fighter. The US has launched the Next Generation Air Dominance Programme (NGAD) and is expected to field its first sixth-generation fighter around 2030. China has shared concepts and mock-ups of sixth-generation aircraft on social media, and a few months ago, there were reports and images of China test-flying a new tailless aircraft.
The United Kingdom is pursuing the sixth-generation fighter concept named Tempest, while France, Germany and Spain are reported to be working jointly on a similar project as part of their Future Combat Air System Programme.
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