India Approves ₹15,000 Crore Plan for Indigenous 5th-Gen Stealth Fighter Jet, AMCA

AMCA: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh formally sanctioned the "execution model" for India's ambitious Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme, signalling progress in the country's quest for indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter capability. The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) which is called out under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in conjunction with private and public Indian Industry partners will be driving the project.

The approval is notable for introducing a effects-based reality where Indian companies—independently, in joint ventures or consortia—can compete in the bidding process for contracts on designing the AMCA prototype and production. This confirms the scaling of defence projects from similar projects which were often just given directly to state vendors; for example, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This will also enable to create substantial domestic aerospace ecosystem in India.

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The AMCA is being envisioned in the twin-engine medium weight multirole fighter in building in stealth features - stealth airframe, internal weapons bays, sensor fusion and supercruise capability. The aircraft is capable to conduct missions as deep penetration deep strike and close combat strikes including swing-role and precision strikes, with the capability to employ future-ready missiles and standoff weapon delivery.

At conditions about 25 tonnes the AMCA is intended to significantly enhance India's air power while further empowering India's strategic autonomy. It will be a partner to the Tejas light combat aircraft in becoming a key platform in the Indian Air Force (IAF), which presently does not have an operational fifth-generation fighter.

The approval marks India's entry into the fifth-generation fighter club, which consists of only the US, Russia and China and provides an idea of India's defence ambitions and aspirations to deal with evolving regional security challenges. The Cabinet Committee on Security gave in principle approval for the AMCA programme in March 2024 at an approximate development cost of ₹15,000 crore.

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The DRDO has pledged to provide an AMCA prototype in 2035, meanwhile the effort will include all of the new-age technologies an AMCA is supposed to have such as advanced avionics; advanced electronic warfare systems; integrated battle networks, etc. The MAWSFC engine is also a significant part of that which the DRDO expect to exploit international collaboration in to fast track, or at least reduce time and risk.

The Defence Ministry calls this model of execution a critical element for getting to Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) within the aerospace sector, as the project will be able to go for competitive bidding across Indian Industry, including public and private sector companies, thus utilising indigenous knowledge and capacity, thus also building the domestic defence industrial base.

ADA will soon be issuing an Expression of Interest (EoI) for bids for the development stage of the project, marking the beginning of a new phase in India's search for advanced indigenous fighter capability.

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