AMCA: India Opens Doors For Private Players To Join Development Of Fifth Generation Stealth Fighter

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has released a notification for a partnership with Indian industries in developing and manufacturing Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), India's first fifth Generation fighter.

The partnership (Technology cum Investment) is being conducted under the Strategic Partnership (SP) model.

The industrial partners are supposed to bring not only investment but also advanced manufacturing technologies for the production of AMCA.

The industrial partnership will boost the development and production of the AMCA, the ADA hoped in the notification.

AMCA is India's first fifth-generation fighter jet. The jet will be a 25-tonne twin-engine fighter with a maximum payload of 6.5 tonnes.

The ADA Director, AK Ghosh, in an interview at DefExpo 2022, stated that the preliminary design process and some validation tests of AMCA have already been completed.

Ghosh, in the interview, further stated that the Critical design review will be completed in the next few months. He also said that the rollout of the prototype of the fighter is expected after 3 years from the day the project's approval is granted by the government.

It will take another year for the fighter to make its first flight, which puts the timeline of the first flight in the 2026-27 timeframe.

IAF is hoping to buy at least 120 of these fighters by 2035.