Defense: Amid China ‘rearming’ Pak, Rajnath approves new fighter jet program
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid reports of China fast-tracking its plan to deliver stealth fighter jets to Pakistan to bolster its arsenal to counter India’s air superiority over its recalcitrant neighbour, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday approved a framework to make its own stealth aircraft.
The initial development cost of the project has been estimated at around Rs. 15,000 crores.
The media reported that Singh approved the “execution model” to implement a mega project to indigenously develop a fifth-generation deep penetration advanced medium combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
India has been working on the ambitious project to develop the medium weight deep penetration fighter jet with advanced stealth features to bolster its air power capability.
The ministry said on Tuesday that Singh has approved the “Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Programme Execution Model.”
“In a significant push towards enhancing India’s indigenous defence capabilities and fostering a robust domestic aerospace industrial ecosystem, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Programme Execution Model,” it said.
The state-run Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) will execute the programme through industry partnership.
The ministry said the “Execution Model” approach provides equal opportunities to both private and public sectors on competitive basis.
“They can bid either independently or as joint venture or as consortia. The entity/bidder should be an Indian company compliant with the laws and regulations of the country,” it said in a statement.
“This is an important step towards harnessing the indigenous expertise, capability and capacity to develop the AMCA prototype, which will be a major milestone towards Aatmanirbharta (Self-reliance) in the aerospace sector.”
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had given an in-principle approval to the fighter jet programme last year.
The IAF has been pushing for the AMCA project in view of its long-term requirement.
India’s confidence in the development of the AMCA saw a significant jump after the development of Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). New Delhi has given impetus to the stealth fighter project as its current fighter jets mostly include Russian and French military aircraft. The number of squadrons in the IAF currently stands at 31, far below the approved strength of 42 squadrons.
With China rapidly expanding its air force, and aiding Pakistan in expanding theirs, New Delhi has decided to speed up its indigenous stealth aircraft project. While India is now focusing on developing the fifth-generation military aircraft, China has made, displayed, and flight-tested its sixth-generation aircraft – believed to be the J-36, developed by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation.
Pakistan already has one of China’s most-advanced fighter aircraft–J-10—and Beijing has offered its most advanced stealth fighter jet—Shenyang J-35, a single-seater, twin-engine, all-weather, stealth, multi-role combat aircraft.
