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| Light Combat Aircraft Tejas | Shailendra Bhojak | PTI |
International Military - It was recently reported that India is determined to build its own domestic stealth fighter, AMCA. Recently, the Defense Research and Development Organization of India (DRDO) announced the "metal cutting" for the country's first prototype of the next generation fighter jet. The fighter jet was called the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft or AMCA.
Scheduled to fly in 2024, serial production of the aircraft will start in 2030. According to reports, the Indian Air Force has committed to 40 AMCA Mk-1 fighters. Not only that, at least 100 Mk-2 variants and several unmanned aircraft will be built.
Similar to China's J-20, the stealth AMCA will also have 'super cruise' capabilities. With AMCA, India will enter the exclusive club of countries with fifth-generation stealth fighters.
So far, the US has the F-35 and F-22 Raptor, Russia has the Su-57, and China has the J-20 which has built these fighters and is considered a fifth-generation fighter.
According to the head of the Aeronautical Development Agency Girish Deodhare, the AMCA will be available in stealth and non-stealth variants and will be produced in two stages. AMCA MK1 with existing GE414 afterburning turbofan engine powering the LCA Tejas.
Meanwhile, the AMCA Mk2 with a GE414 afterburning turbofan engine. new, more powerful engines to be developed in collaboration with foreign players.
Reporting from financialexpress.com, the estimated cost of the AMCA prototype is pegged at Rs 15,000 crore. Not only that, this project was also assisted by a number of aerospace giants. These include US-based Lockheed Martin & Boeing Company and Swedish Company SAAB which have offered their expertise to India for the AMCA project.
The first two squadrons of AMCA Mk-1s will be powered by the GE-414 already deployed in the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas'. Not only that, AMCA will also have supercruise capabilities that are useful for achieving supersonic cruising speeds without the use of afterburners and as data fusion and multi-sensor integration with Active Electronically Scanned Array radars.