BENGALURU: Aero India 2025 takes off tomorrow, with a much-anticipated fifth-generation stealth fighter ‘duel’ between Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 “Felon” and the US’ Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Both are wooing India to pick its offer, while eyeing the host country’s booming military market bristling with modernisation plans.
While the F-35 was on static display during Aero India 2023, the 2025 edition will mark Su-57’s debut.
The Indian Air Force lacks a fifth-generation fighter. Its latest acquisition – the Dassault Rafale – is a 4.5-generation platform. Last year, the Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the Rs 15,000-crore indigenous fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project for the IAF, and is expected to be inducted by 2035, placing India in a select club of nations with indigenous fifth-generation stealth aircraft.
China rapidly manufacturing and deploying its Chengdu J-20 (300+ have been built) and unveiling its sixth-generation fighter jet designs, leaves India facing a 15-year tech gap in combat aircraft development. Moreover, China is also looking at selling 40 ‘to-be-developed’ Shenyang J-35s to Pakistan.
Defence analyst Angad Singh says, “China first flew the J-20 in 2011, and conclusively demonstrated that it was ahead, and even if Pakistan has in-principle access to China’s technology, the fact remains that the latter cannot afford this sort of tech. But China may want to subsidise it to keep us off-balance. Today, we are looking at a 15-year gap in technology between us and China, and even if we are going to field our fifth-generation aircraft in the mid-2030s, the gap by then would have widened to 25 years.”
With geopolitics in South Asia not witnessing the best of times currently, India senses an urgent need to quickly bolster its air combat might, including adding more aircraft to IAF’s arsenal, which will involve fifth-generation fighters. China is surging ahead with heightening its air combat capabilities. Its two sixth-generation fighter jets — the larger, tail-less Chengdu J-36, and the smaller Shenyang J-50 – are seen as attempts to checkmate the US’ air dominance.
Besides, its play in the South Asian region – where it is also looking at selling its advanced J-17 fighters to Bangladesh, while already in talks with Pakistan for a fifth-generation fighter deal – is concerning. It is in this scenario that the two fifth-generation fighters are expected to square off at the biennial air show, eyeing to serve India’s telling fifth-generation fighter aircraft requirement. Both seem to be in the fray to become ideal choices to fill that one gap in the IAF at the moment.
The long wait for take-off
In early 2007, India and Russia agreed to jointly study and develop a fifth-generation stealth fighter. Known as the Sukhoi/HAL Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), it was based on the new Su-57, which was being developed jointly by Sukhoi and HAL for the IAF. The completed FGFA, with 43 improvements over the Su-57, included advanced sensors, networking and combat avionics, and was to be a two-seater (for Indian version), for pilot and weapon systems operator (WSO). However, in 2018, India withdrew from the FGFA programme, owing to a series of issues, both technical and financial, according to reports.
Subsequently, the AMCA, led by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), emerged as India’s resolve to arm itself with a fifth-generation combat aircraft, which was not only meant to act as a solution to rejuvenate an ageing IAF fleet, but also to counter the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
The proposed 25-tonne twin-engine AMCA, is slated to be larger than other fighters in the IAF hangar, boasting of advanced stealth features, enabling it to fly undetected by enemy radar. The AMCA Mk1 variant would be powered by the American 90-kN GE414 engine, while the more advanced Mk2 would get the more powerful 110-kN engine, developed by DRDO’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), in collaboration with a foreign defence partner. Most significantly, the AMCA project highlights India’s ‘Atmanirbharta’ pursuit of furthering its own advanced defence industry.
Back in 2009, the then UPA government had allocated Rs 90 crore, followed by an additional Rs 447 crore, for a feasibility study on AMCA. However, progress remained staggered, until the March of last year, when the Union Cabinet gave its nod for the programme. And yet at present, a series of technical challenges, particularly with the engine, continue to impair its pace of development.
Analysts expect the first flight of AMCA to take place in a year or two, with the aircraft expected to enter service only in the early 2030s. “In terms of AMCA, one cannot build an aircraft in the absence of an engine, unless one has a deal with a global OEM. We must look at a comprehensive strategic partnership which leads on to the engine, and ultimately an aircraft. Today, if we try to rapidly pursue AMCA and believe that the first aircraft will be inducted in the next 2-3 years, it’s unlikely to happen,” Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) Director General, Air Vice Marshal Anil Golani (Retd) told TNSE.
So, until India does roll out its first fifth-generation fighter, amid the prevailing reality of a reduced, ageing fleet, while our neighbours rearm themselves, the question is should the country look at foreign offerings in the interim? In this context, the participation of the Su-57 and F-35 to Aero India becomes more significant.
Su-57 v/s F-35: Pros and cons
Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport Director General Alexander Mikheev has been quoted as saying that India has been offered a comprehensive partnership under the Su-57E project, which includes local manufacturing capabilities. “Our proposals include supply of assembled aircraft, the organisation of their joint production in India, and assistance in developing an Indian fifth-generation fighter,” Mikheev was quoted as saying by Sputnik India.
“Rosoboronexport and the Indian side are working to expand bilateral technological cooperation within the framework of the ‘Make in India’ programme. We offer our partners large-scale projects to develop and produce military aircraft, helicopters, air defence equipment, armoured vehicles, and ammunition. We are also ready to discuss the possibility of jointly promoting these products in third countries,” Mikheev said in a statement last year.
But certain issues persist with the Su-57, in terms of its assembly, and stealth capabilities. It may also be noted that so far, a little over 40 Su-57s have been built, with no confirmed international customer, compared to over 1,000 F-35s which have been inducted by many air forces around the world. With such a large market for the F-35, and its own proven record with the world’s big air forces, India may look like the next big opportunity for Lockheed Martin. Moreover, in his recent phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump said India needs to buy more US-made arms and ammunition.
A primary issue, however, surrounding the transfer of F-35 technology to India is the US’ strict policy on safeguarding sensitive military technology, meaning India would likely not be allowed to fully manufacture or significantly modify the aircraft domestically, hindering its ‘Make in India’ drive, and potentially raising concerns about operational sovereignty due to reliance on foreign components and updates.
The options to modernise
At the moment, India has two options to enhance air power – to select a foreign fifth-generation fighter, or to effectively pursue its own indigenous fifth-generation fighter aircraft project within a set deadline.
Analysts and IAF veterans have varied opinions, with some calling for focus on indigenous development, and others for collaborations, despite delays in the AMCA programme. There should be no stop-gap solution. India has a long-standing commitment to develop its own fifth-generation fighter, the AMCA, which will not only boost the domestic defence industry, but also make the country self-reliant and strong for its own security needs, they say.
Defence expert Air Marshal BK Pandey (Retd), says although there is a need to modernise, the local industry is unable to meet the IAF’s requirement. Hence, foreign vendors may look at India as a potential market, which is nothing unusual. “If India likes a platform, an evaluation can be made before placing an order, but much depends on what the government decides... we are tied down to our local industry, and the government would like to boost that industry by placing orders with it, rather than go and spend money abroad,” he says.
“If you are looking at India as a country doing something immediately, we have to go for a government-to-government deal like what we did for the Rafale, because if we go through the defence acquisition procedures, RFI RFP route... even if we were to sign a deal, the first aircraft will only start coming in the next three years onwards.
It’s not something that we can buy off the shelf, and boost our strength. Every country will try to put pressure on us to buy their aircraft, but it’s a political decision for the government to make,” CAPS Director General Golani says, calling for collaborations in engine and aircraft development.
The Global Firepower Index 2025 continues to rank India as the fourth-most powerful military in the world, with the IAF’s formidable fleet strength at an impressive 2,229 aircraft, which include around 600 fighter jets, and there are constant upgrades of existing fleets, making them airworthy for the longest time.
Last December, the Ministry of Defence also inked a Rs 13,500-crore contract with HAL for 12 Su-30 fighters, along with associated equipment for the IAF. Separately, a record over Rs 6.81 lakh crore was allocated in the Union Budget 2025-26 for the MoD, translating to an increase of 9.53% from the current fiscal, with a special emphasis on modernisation. All that’s required now is taking to the sky and protecting it, within time!
Stealth fighter jets currently in service
Sukhoi Su-57 (Russia)
Chengdu J-20 (China)
Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor (USA)
WHAT GIVES A FIGHTER JET ITS STEALTH
Low-observable design: The aircraft’s shape is carefully crafted with flat, angled surfaces that deflect radar waves away from the source, reducing the radar signal reflected back
Radar-absorbent materials (RAM): Special coatings applied to the aircraft’s surface that absorb and scatter radar waves, further minimising the radar signature
Internal weapons bay: Weapons are stored inside the aircraft’s fuselage instead of being carried externally on the wings or under-carriage, which reduces the radar cross-section
Engine design: Engine intakes and exhausts are designed to minimise the radar signature by directing air flow in a way that disperses radar waves
Reduced infrared signature: Measures like special engine cooling systems and exhaust treatments are used to minimise heat emissions, making it harder to detect with infrared sensors
Low acoustic signature: Design features that reduce noise generated by the aircraft, making it harder to detect with acoustic sensors
Advanced avionics: Sophisticated electronic systems that can manage radar signals, including low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) radar, to further minimise detection