India's fifth generation fighter jet dream takes flight as ADA invites expressions of interest

A model of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) on display during the Aero India 2025, at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (PTI Photo)

In a major development, India’s fifth generation fighter jet dream inched to reality as the Aeronautical Development Agency issued an invitation for ‘Expression of Interest’ from companies around the world for the development of AMCA. The document was uploaded on the official site of the state-run company on Wednesday evening.

As per the document, “the Objective of this EOI is to short list Indian Companies (owned & controlled by resident Indian citizens) who are technically capable for the Development, building of Prototypes, supporting Flight Test and Certification of AMCA. The applicant may be a Single Company, Joint Venture or a Consortium of companies, compliant with all applicable Indian Laws & Regulations. It should also demonstrate experience and competence to execute projects of comparable technical complexity and scale.”

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ADA also seeks the applicants to have “capability to absorb the design of AMCA and have adequate experience in the field of Development & Engineering, Manufacturing, Integration, Fabrication, Testing, Quality Management, Customer Support etc. with a manufacturing facility or strategic tieups with another Supplier with up a manufacturing facility for series production. The duration of the contract for Development, Prototyping, Flight Test and Certification of AMCA shall not exceed eight (8) years from the effective date of contract.”

The document also shows that the project has gathered pace as pre-EOI meeting will be organised in the first week of July. On the concerns of transparency, the ADA says that “all participating entities will be assessed based on the eligibility criteria and the evaluation matrix provided in the EOI document.”

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Mentioning the details of how a company can apply, the ADA release says, “The EOI document is priced at Rs 10,000 (Rupees Ten thousand only), which is non-refundable. Payment must be made via NEFT/RTGS to the designated bank account. Post successful payment using bank reference, the Company shall send an email request for EOI participation to the email ID printed in the bank challan with subject "EOI Participation - Development of AMCA". The email should include the payment details, name, designation and mobile number of the SPOC (Single Point of Contact). ADA reserves further communication to this SPOC only hence request to ensure address and/or contact details are provided.”

The deadline for submitting the EOI has been fixed for August 16, 2025, on or before 5 pm, the ADA document added.

The fifth-generation aircraft project is critical for the Indian Air Force, whose squadrons of mainly Russian and former Soviet aircraft have dropped to 31 as against the approved strength of 42.