Indian 5th Gen Combat Aircraft: Indigenous AMCA vs F-35/SU-57

AMCA Requirement

On 27 May 2025, Defence Minister of India, Shri Rajnath Singh approved the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Program Execution Model through industry partnership. The Aircraft Design authority Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is set to execute the programme through Public-Private partnership (PPP) providing equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on competitive basis. Those partners could bid for various systems/sub-systems either independently, as joint venture or as consortia. This is bound to create healthy competitions so as to give a boost to the tight timeline to the mission-mode approach.

AMCA will be a 5th Generation Air Dominance Fighter, fully Designed and Developed within India. It is the need of the hour for India to have own 5th Gen Combat Aircraft incorporating the technologies of 21stcenturies that could remain in full operation at least for 40-50 yrs if not more. Surely the platform could continuously evolve with technological upgrades as well as value additions in the coming years and decades.

The readers may like to know what a 5th Gen Combat Aircraft refers to. In short, such aircraft have the following provisions that make it dangerous against the enemies:-

• It has a stealth property that evades any signature on Radars by absorbing or scattering the incident Electromagnetic radiations.
• It has a very low-probability-of-intercept by radar (LPIR). It means that even if a minutest of signature is cast on enemy radar, its interception by enemy Air Défense will be negligible.
• It has an advanced integrated avionics system esp pertaining to weapon delivery.
• It is highly agile aircraft with its airframes having super cruise performance.
• It has a highly integrated computer networking C3 (Command, Control & Communication).
• It has a highly improved 360 deg Situational Awareness (SA) thru’ plethora of multi-spectral highly sensitive sensors with limited Artificial Intelligence in situ to manage a vast data being generated so as to reduce the Cockpit Workload (CW) of the Pilot.
• The pilot on control having very good SA and minimal of CW can fully concentrate on combat decision making to achieve his missions.
• Such Aircraft has superiority over the adversary, enabling battle area dominance.

Approval of the Indian AMCA project has come late on the world scenario BUT for a newer player like India in the business of advanced combat jets, it is not too late of a giant step. As such it is said that it is never too late to start. Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has taken up this project of designing a 5th Gen Aircraft right on the heels of LCA. It will be a continuation of some sorts, with many value additions and some technological innovations.

Technological Challenges in AMCA

Having designed and successfully developed the LCA in the recent past, the present generation of the scientists at ADA are fresh in their approach. By virtue of transforming the LCA Mk-I into Mk-1A and Mk-II, they are fully conversant of how the value additions are done in a combat jet. Technological challenges in very brief will incorporate the followings: -

1. The Airframe will be slightly larger than LCA Mk-II, with the surface of the craft transformed to absorb the Radar waves to make it stealth. It must not increase its weight disproportionately to reduce the load carrying capacity. The aerodynamic will be such that there is very little of eddies crated at design cruise speeds without causing overheating of the surface. The airframe will also have weapon compartment both in the body and the wings hidden under the stealth airframe surface. Even the pylons and hard points have to be stealth compliant.
2. Air-intake for the engines is essentially dictated by the requirements of the engine but a serpentine design shields the metal parts from Radar sights. Similar are the designs of the cockpit so that ejection seat and hind surface doesn’t come in line of the Radar waves. Bubble-cockpit could pose problems for stealth function.
3. Networking of computers for an upgraded C-3 with redundancy and some level of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reduce the CW for the pilot needs additional work for the team. India being hub of soft power, could do it with perfection even beyond the other contemporary 5th Gen combat aircraft. These networking will have to incorporate plethora of sensors and provisions for satellite communications to evade radio-interception by the enemies.
4. The avionics could be similar to the 4.5 Gen LCA Mk-1A and Mk-II with some value additions hence, not a big challenge.
5. Engine will be a new challenge. The single Kavery Mk-II with 114 kN thrust or two of the 58 kN transformed Kavery Engines, both indigenous, could be an option. It is believed that both engines are nearing completions of their development. Alternately, GE 414 or Safran-HAL Engine could be developed in the due course of time on a mission mode.
6. An advanced Integrated Life Support System (ILSS) having Onboard Oxygen Generation System with back-up highly compressed Oxygen has already been tried out in LCA that could also be placed in AMCA to enable longer endurance, a shorter turn-around time as well as hygienic Oxygen safety.

Time Frame of Prototype & Trials

The AMCA has already progressed towards its prototyping, with its Preliminary and Critical Design Reviews carried out satisfactorily in Nov 2020 and Dec 2023 respectively. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had already approved the initiation in April 2024. Its scaled Mock-up was the centre of attraction at the 2025 Bangalore Air Show. Now Min of Def having approved this mission-mode project, the platform is set for a multi-pronged, multi-agency competitive prototyping of the airframe as well as the Development of C-3 and Avionics mentioned above. These developments, testing and certification could take approx. 3 to 3½ yrs before its integration starts. It could be expected that with requisite thrust given to the project, the first prototype could be ready for ground, taxi and flight trials in 5 yrs or so. Trials on subsequent prototypes and Limited Serial Production (LSP) could be completed in another 1½ to 2 yrs before Regional Centre for Military Airworthiness (RCMA) accords first to Initial Op Configuration (IOC) followed by Final Op Configuration (FOC) just like how it happened in the case of the LCA. Thereafter, commercial production could start at augmented scale so as to meet IAF’s requirements. All these could take approx. 7 yrs.

The above timeframe in the D&D of AMCA is optimistic ones. If the agency become slack, the delivery could slide down from 10-12 yrs. On the other hand, if Modi-like handling of the project providing assistance by removing of bottlenecks are done, it could be realized a year or so earlier. Just how he ramped up the production from 4-6 LCA a year by HAL to near 24 LCA by bringing in additional manufacturers, even AMCA production could be ramped up.

Discomfort of International Players in Combat Jets

All major combat aircraft industries in the world are aware of Indian 5th Gen Combat Aircraft taking shape through a structured project. They are all aware how rapidly the project has been moving after the govt had approved the initiative in Apr 24. They all must have been surprised to find a scaled model of the AMCA at Bangalore Air Show. That is why US Prez Donald trump was quick to offer his F-35 to India During PM Modi’s visit in Feb 2025. Russia too didn’t lag behind in offering their SU-57 at affordable cost. Further, to scuttle the Indian AMCA project, China has declared that they may be offering their J-35 to Pakistan so that India could get into panic to shelve own AMCA to acquire a 5th gen fighter from other players. One must remember that Russia and China have an unlimited Defence pact. China’s narrative building could be for the purpose of benefiting Russia and harming indigenous Indian aircraft industry. However, it has been gratifying that Indian Defence hierarchy didn’t bite those baits and instead, opted to back its own AMCA program.   

Today, Europe is the only major block that doesn’t have 5th gen Combat aircraft. Besides, Turkish TF-X Kaan and South Korea are also exploring/pursuing its development. It may be advisable for the Indian agencies to offer a joint development with Europe that could be beneficial to both as well as it could cut short the Development and production time. Europe could come up with Engine and advanced weaponry whereas India could work out the rest of it. It could be a win-win for both.

Timeframe of AMCA vis-à-vis Global Tender

Even if Govt of India wishes to go for buying the 5th Gen Combat aircraft on global tender, it could take anything from 3-4 yrs before short-listing is done by the user, IAF in this case. Readers may be apprised that shortlisting had taken ~6 yrs in the case of Rafale. Thereafter, price negotiation and the signing of contract for the order could take another year or so. Supply of the first batch of this advance aircraft could be expected only 4-5 yrs later. Thus, by the time first batch of aircraft is supplied, it could be at least 7 yrs if not more. By this time, those suppliers will already have upgrades or next generation aircraft in service and Indian govt may have to succumb to another purchase of 6th Gen aircraft and this vicious cycle will continue. Further, F-35 is very costly with a high accident rate. On the other hand, SU-57 has no exposer to battlefield success. Chinese first 5th Gen J-20 was a failure, and their J-35 is yet to be proven. As such India will not be inclined to go for Chinese aircraft. Hence, there is no guaranty that any 5th Gen aircraft purchased on global tender will be worth the cost or battle-field performance. In addition, the OEM of those advanced combat jets could impose restrictions on its Op usage and supplies of spares in the crunch times. It is well known that USA places embargo for using their aircraft against own as well as allied forces. They could also have their own specific armaments configured to their avionics which India may be obliged to purchase, thus imposing a high cost of operation and remaining ever dependent on the OEM. Hence, indigenous AMCA could be a better choice.

Advantages of Indigenous AMCA

Indigenous AMCA will have numerous advantages to the globally procured ones as some enumerated below: -

1. It will be much cheaper to its global compatriots.
2. The affordable cost will enable the govt to acquire several squadrons of it with consequent dominance over the airspace.
3. The procurement cost will benefit the numerous Indian companies involved in the design, development, production and maintenance of the aircraft. It will provide thousands of jobs in both public and private sectors.
4. It will boost the manufacturing sectors across the board giving a spurt to both industries as well as to the national GDP.
5. Any minor upgrade in hardware or software not affecting flight worthiness could be incorporated by ADA/RCMA/HAL without much cost or time.
6. Inputs by users for value additions and battle-field efficacies could be incorporated in-house and introduced as next upgrade of its variant such as Mk-1A, 1B or Mk-II.
7. The AMCA could serve as a platform for 6th Generation aircraft with all indigenous technologies.
8. AMCA will have high potential for export all over the world.
9. It will provide the freedom to Min of Defence from any arm-twisting by the foreign firms in the times of national emergencies that the global firms often indulge in.

The Bottom-Lines

Govt of India, Min of Defence has approved the AMCA project execution model for Development, Certification and procurement for Indian Air Force on a tight timeline. The fifth-generation combat aircraft has become essential for India especially because its hostile neighbors have acquired it. The successful D&D, production and operationalization of the LCA has given confidence to ADA to march forward to 5thgeneration aircraft. After the initial spadework of Design, PDR, CDR and bench model having already done, stage is set for prototyping and various types of trials. Although productionisation will take 7-10 years. A similar time could be taken to buy such aircraft through global tendering, operational trials, price negotiations, placing the demand and then the gestation period before it is supplied. By the time supply of the aircraft from foreign firm is completed, the current technology will be at least 2 decades old and next version of similar aircraft already flying. Thus, India will always lag behind the other competitors and also suffer the operational constraints imposed by the OEM or their regulators. It is thus concluded that Govt of India has taken a wise decision to go for own 5th Gen AMCA which could also serve the platform for next Generation Aircraft in relatively shorter time.