India's stealth fighter race: As AMCA project gets nod, check prototype timeline, global contenders and China factor

Indian Air Force fighter jets fly over the Agra-Lucknow highway during a special exercise in Unnao. (AP file photo)

Days after Indian Air Force’s fighter jets plundered Pakistan’s key airbases during Operation Sindoor, the Rajnath Singh-led defence ministry on Tuesday gave approval for the execution model of the India’s ambitious Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme.

This would give wings to India’s dream of developing indigenous fifth-generation fighter jet. Conventional models show from around the globe show that the journey from drawing board to airspace takes somewhere around ten years. India is also aiming to develop the AMCA prototype. So far, the Defence Research and Development Organisation has said that the combat jet will be delivered by 2035.

The AMCA project will work under the Aeronautical Development Agency. India will also seek global collaboration for the key defence project. Safran from France, Rolls Royce from Britain and General Electric from the US are among the top contenders intending to be part of India’s fifth-gen fighter jet journey.

The AMCA prototype

So, what will this much-hyped fifth-generation fighter jet look like? Details are sketchy. But what we know so far is that the AMCA will have a multirole platform with heavy reliance on stealth mode. Other key factors will include internal bays for weapons, better avionics and most important, the supercruise facility. Among the agenda of the ADA will be new ecosystem to develop thrust-class engine of 110-kilonewton that will power the AMCA weighing somewhere around 25 tonne.

The China factor

A recent report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency had said that India sees China as ‘primary adversary’. The report had also said that since the 2020 Galwan clash in Ladakh, India has ramped up its defence ties and military presence in the Indian Ocean region among others. Recently, the DGMO presser had also highlighted how Chinese weapons were supplied to Pakistan. This puts New Delhi in need for a superior air power system. China’s latest deployment of fifth-gen combat jets along with borders with India adds to the geopolitical worries. Beijing had also stationed Chengdu J-20 fighter planes in Shigatse and Hotan.