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India’s green light to the AMCA stealth fighter project signals a major push toward airpower parity and defence indigenisation amid regional flux.
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Powering its fifth-generation stealth fighter ambitions, India’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme was finally set in motion last week. After several delays, the government has formulated the project’s timeline and execution model. Given New Delhi’s great-power aspirations, its recent turbocharged aerial conflict with Islamabad, an increasingly assertive Beijing, and the broader turbulence in the subcontinent, this announcement is a key moment for both India’s airpower and its defence indigenisation goals.
With the growing centrality of airpower in future India-Pakistan conflicts, and the rising gulf in fighter aircraft capacity with China—which has cascading effects on Pakistan—the AMCA announcement becomes even more significant.
Announcing the decision, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declared that the AMCA programme would be open to both public and private players. The Aeronautical Design Agency will execute the project through an industry partnership model. This marks a turning point in India’s fighter jet manufacturing history—until now, such projects have been exclusively carried out by the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The possibility of private participation in this pivotal deal opens vast avenues for private defence and aerospace players. While HAL remains the front-runner, the inherent messaging can be a catalyst for India’s fighter aircraft manufacturing capacity and ambitions in the long term.
With the growing centrality of airpower in future India-Pakistan conflicts, and the rising gulf in fighter aircraft capacity with China—which has cascading effects on Pakistan—the AMCA announcement becomes even more significant.
China currently possesses a more advanced and expansive fighter aircraft fleet than India. It has indigenously manufactured multiple generations of modern fighter aircraft and is already laying out its roadmap for next-generation fighters.
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has inducted its J-20 fifth-generation stealth fighter, with reports estimating around 195 operational units. Data suggests that the PLAAF’s fleet has a total strength of 1,600 modern fighter aircraft. This includes the 195 fifth-generation J-20s, and over 1,400 fourth-generation aircraft such as the J-11, J-15, J-16, Su-27, Su-30, and Su-35.
Simultaneously, Beijing is advancing the development of its sixth-generation fighter aircraft plan with the J-36 and J-50. These strides in aircraft design and manufacturing have direct implications for Pakistan. Benefiting from their ‘all-weather friendship’, Islamabad continues to enjoy benevolent and enhanced access to advanced Chinese military aviation.
Pakistan has co-developed the JF-17—a multi-role, twin-engine, 4.5-generation fighter—with China. They have also inducted 20 J-10CE fighter aircraft from China. Reports now suggest that Pakistan may acquire at least 40 stealth, multi-role, twin-engine J-35A fighters from Beijing, which will add the fifth-generation dimension to their squadrons.
Meanwhile, India’s fighter strength has declined to 30 squadrons, well below the sanctioned 42.5. Over the next decade, eight more squadrons—comprising MiG-21s, the Mirage 2000s, and Jaguars—are scheduled for retirement.
This evolving China-Pakistan fighter axis, juxtaposed with India’s historically sluggish pace of fighter aircraft development, has added an extra layer of urgency to getting the AMCA project off the ground.
Given these realities, the stealth fighter project announcement moves the needle forward in addressing several asymmetries the Indian Air Force (IAF) faces. It addresses a long-standing requirement for a fifth-generation fighter, which will serve as a force multiplier for India’s air power. While the capacity gap with China will remain, some semblance of balance may emerge through this project in the long run. Nonetheless, the efficacy will be in meeting the delivery targets rather than the delays that have become synonymous.
The latest developments in India’s fifth-generation AMCA project are significant from airpower, geopolitical, and defence manufacturing standpoints. If executed successfully, this programme will boost India’s strategic autonomy and resilience, especially in times of conflict.
Current plans envision the IAF will reportedly induct seven AMCA squadrons, amounting to 126 fighters. The AMCA will be a 25-tonne, multi-role, twin-engine stealth aircraft with Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled avionics, supercruise capability, and internally stored weapons. While the AMCA will form one part of the IAF’s mainstay, the plan is for the other indigenous fighter—the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas MK1A and MK2—to form the other core of the IAF’s fleet. Essentially, providing India with a largely indigenous fighter fleet that can safeguard its dynamic security landscape, especially during heightened supply-chain constraints in conflict. The fleet will also include foreign aircraft, including around 260 Russian Su-30MKI, but the overall external percentage is expected to shrink over time.
A critical element to AMCA’s overarching indigenisation capacity will be the ability to develop a domestically manufactured turbofan engine. While reports suggest the first two squadrons of the AMCA will be powered by a GE-F414 engine, the next phase will include a domestically manufactured engine developed in collaboration with international manufacturers such as Safran, GE, or Rolls-Royce. Although India has its own engine development programme—such as the Kaveri project under the Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE)—this could provide an appropriate time to double down on investments, make concrete timelines, and provide cross-cutting support to GTRE in delivering a 120kN engine for the AMCA. An India-made engine will also mitigate the delays associated with relying on foreign vendors for aircraft engines—a scenario India is currently facing with the GE F404 engine for the LCA Tejas.
The latest developments in India’s fifth-generation AMCA project are significant from airpower, geopolitical, and defence manufacturing standpoints. If executed successfully, this programme will boost India’s strategic autonomy and resilience, especially in times of conflict. Nevertheless, the whole programme will hinge on delivery timelines—more delays and the gulf with China will widen—and keep India locked in a cycle of playing catch-up.
Suchet Vir Singh is a Consultant at The Asia Group. He was also an Associate Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.
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Suchet Vir Singh is a defence analyst. Until recently, he was an Associate Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation. His research interests include India’s defence services, ...
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