Defense Ministry seeks proposals from three selected private companies for indigenous AMCA fighter aircraft

New Delhi: The Defense Ministry on Wednesday issued an invitation for proposals taking forward India’s ambitious Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft program. This step is considered very important in India’s indigenous fifth generation fighter aircraft manufacturing program. According to defense officials, this RFP has been sent to three major industrial groups, which include the alliance of Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Electronics Limited, Tata Advanced Systems and Bharat Forge-BEML Group.

What is the objective of AMCA project?

AMCA project is being counted among the most important schemes of India’s defense aviation sector. Its main objective is to develop indigenous fighter aircraft equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technology for the Indian Air Force. Through this project, India wants to further strengthen self-reliance in the defense sector, so that foreign dependence can be reduced for advanced military technology.

In February this year, the Defense Ministry had selected Tata Group, L&T and Bharat Forge for this program. The special thing is that the government company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has not been included in the development of this project. There is a lot of discussion about this in the defense sector, because till now HAL has played an important role in manufacturing fighter aircraft.

How much amount did the government set?

The government has earmarked an amount of about Rs 15 thousand crore for the design and development of AMCA prototype. However, officials believe that the total cost of the project may increase further once large-scale production begins. According to the initial plan, the Indian Air Force can include about 120 fighter aircraft in its fleet in the first phase of this program.

According to the fixed roadmap of the project, a target has been set to prepare the prototype of AMCA by the year 2030. After this, the first squadron of these aircraft is likely to be inducted into the Indian Air Force by 2035. It is believed that this aircraft will be developed keeping in mind the needs of modern warfare, which will have features like stealth capability, advanced sensors and multirole operation.

Recently Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also laid the foundation stone of a major defense infrastructure scheme linked to the AMCA project in Puttaparthi area of ​​Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh. This initiative of about Rs 16 thousand crore is expected to give a big boost to the defense manufacturing sector. According to officials, this project will create about 7,500 employment opportunities and will give a new impetus to defense production and technological innovation in the country.