BENGALURU: India’s most advanced and lethal aircraft that is taking shape in Bengaluru got a big boost earlier this week after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a Rs 15,000-crore fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project. If everything works out as planned, the first aircraft will take to the skies by the end of 2028.
The Bengaluru-based Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) has completed the design phase of AMCA and is ready to get into the development phase. AMCA is considered to be the next mega aircraft project after Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, which is a four/four-plus generation aircraft.
“We will be building five prototypes. The first is expected to fly in four-and-half years,” Krishna Rajendra, Project Director, AMCA, told The New Sunday Express. Stealth is one of its key characteristics and the aircraft will be able to complete its mission and return to base without being detected by enemy radars. Unlike the 4th generation aircraft that carry weapons on the wings and under the fuselage, in the 5th generation fighters, weapons will be carried in the internal weapon bay. They will not be visible. Whenever necessary, the belly opens, and weapons will come out, just before firing. As engine takes air and that is the major source of backscatter, to hide it, the aircraft will have serpentine air intake. All these features will reduce the radar signature of the aircraft and make it more lethal.All five prototypes that will be built by ADA will undergo flight testing and they will be ready for commencement of production by the end of 10 years, he said. They expect some orders by then and start production and inducting the aircraft. Currently, the aircraft development will go with the GE 414 engines. It will be a much more lethal aircraft as it can complete its mission without being detected, said the Project Director.
The LCA programme and the contribution of those who worked on it provided the foundation for the AMCA project, said AK Ghosh, former Project Director of AMCA. He was associated with the project from the beginning, from conceptualisation, technology building and design, till he retired from ADA in January 2023.