NEW DELHI: India’s indigenous fifth-generation fighter aircraft programme entered a crucial new phase on Wednesday after the defence ministry issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project to three shortlisted private sector-led consortia, defence officials told ANI. The bidders include the Larsen & Toubro-Bharat Electronics Limited combine, Tata Advanced Systems, and Bharat Forge in partnership with BEML.
The Execution Model approach provided equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on a competitive basis.The AMCA programme is regarded as India’s most ambitious fighter aircraft project and is expected to form the backbone of the Indian Air Force’s combat capability from the mid-2030s. Designed as a twin-engine stealth fighter, the aircraft will feature advanced sensor fusion, internal weapons bays, artificial intelligence-enabled systems and network-centric warfare capability.
On May 15, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for a Rs 16,000-crore Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) infrastructure project in Sri Sathya Sai district. Calling it a “historic chapter in India’s defence history”, Rajnath Singh said the initiative would usher in “a new era” for Andhra Pradesh. He also announced that eight drone companies would help establish a drone city in Kurnool.