Key Points

According to MoD's statement, in a significant push towards enhancing India's indigenous defence capabilities and fostering a robust domestic aerospace industrial ecosystem, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Programme Execution Model.

The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is set to execute the programme through industry partnership.

The Execution Model approach provides equal opportunities to both the private and public sectors on a competitive basis. They can bid either independently or as a joint venture, or as consortia. The entity or bidder should be an Indian company compliant with the laws and regulations of the country, the statement said.

This is an important step towards harnessing the indigenous expertise, capability and capacity to develop the AMCA prototype, which will be a major milestone towards Aatmanirbharta in the aerospace sector.

ADA will shortly issue an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the AMCA Development Phase, the statement added.

Earlier reports indicate that India is actively encouraging private sector involvement in the indigenous fifth-generation AMCA project to ensure its timely completion, even as the US pushes to sell its F-35 fighter jets to the country.

A Defence Ministry committee led by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, with members from the Indian Air Force and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), has been formed to explore ways to enhance private sector participation in the project.

The committee is considering multiple models, including joint ventures between HAL and private firms, or having private companies partner in the design and development phases. Given HAL's extensive experience in aerospace manufacturing, its involvement remains central to the project.

Currently, HAL outsources significant portions of work for fighter jets to private companies like L&T, Godrej, and Azad Engineering. Among private players, the Tata Group has some experience in aircraft integration, working with Airbus on assembling C-295 transport aircraft in India.

A full-scale model of AMCA, designed by ADA for the Indian Air Force, was showcased at Aero India 2025, held in Bengaluru from February 10 to 14. This 25-ton aircraft will feature manned and unmanned teaming capabilities, enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

The AI-powered electronic pilot includes multi-sensor data fusion for better situational awareness, a pilot decision support system, an automatic target identification system, and a combined vision system for navigation under poor visibility conditions.

According to ADA, the integration of AI will significantly advance the AMCA's operational capabilities, making it one of the most advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft globally.

- ANI