AMCA programme The AMCA programme, earlier known as the
Medium Combat Aircraft (MCA) programme, is an Indian programme to develop a fifth-generation combat aircraft. It began as a parallel programme to the Indo-Russia
Sukhoi/HAL FGFA. The AMCA programme was launched in 2010. Meanwhile, the Indian Navy sought details of the project for a naval variant in March 2013. The proposed variant is referred to as NAMCA or AMCA-N. The naval requirements were officially sent on 7 September 2015 and the aircraft would equip their future
IAC-2. The design was accepted by IAF in 2016.
Detailed design phase In 2018, ADA received additional funding of for the detailed design phase (DDP). By 2019, the programme faced multiple delays while India pulled out from the Indo-Russian FGFA development project which was for a different weight category. AMCA became the "first preference" of the IAF. As of 2022, after multiple delays, the
Ministry of Defence was seeking approval of from the
Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for the prototype development phase. Again, the timeline of first flight by 2020 (and production by 2025) was shifted to 2026. The
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) expects to roll out the first prototype in three years and the first flight in one to one and (a) half years after that". Total 5 prototypes are to be built. The first flight is expected in late 2028. The first three prototypes will carry out developmental flight trials, whereas the next two will focus on weapon trials. The prototype will be rolled out at an interval of 8-9 months. A
Special Purpose Vehicle consisting of ADA,
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and a private company was reportedly being formed for the development and production of AMCA. At the Aero India
2025, a
full-scale engineering model of the AMCA was publicly demonstrated for the first time. The model was manufactured by VEM Technologies, a private company based in Hyderabad. The firm was responsible for end-to-end manufacturing of composites along with assembly and integration of the entire body. As revealed during the event, ADA has laid out a 10-year development roadmap for the rollout of five prototypes after the full-scale engineering development phase began in April 2024. The prototype roll out is planned by late 2026 or early 2027, followed by first flight in 2028, certification by 2032 and induction in 2034. The timeline details was provided by Krishna Rajendra Neeli, the Project Director of the AMCA programme. Each prototype will cost . The CCS mentioned that any cost overruns during the development should be reported directly to CCS instead of the Defence Ministry.
Production partner selection Initially, a
Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) including ADA,
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and a private company was expected as the development and production partner for AMCA. the Ministry of Defence formed a top level committee, chaired by the
Defence Secretary, to evaluate a "clear-cut strategy and production-cum-business model" to accelerate the development of AMCA. The members of the committee are Secretary of Defence Production,
Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS)
Air Marshal SP Dharkar and top officials from ADA and DRDO. The committee was tasked to devise a plan to "shrink timelines" to get AMCA from drawing board to air as well as the high thrust indigenous engine development. The report is expected to be submitted by April. On 27 May 2025, the Defence Ministry cleared the "Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft Programme Execution Model" under which ADA would issue an
Expression of Interest (EoI) to develop AMCA through industry partnership. Here, a private or public sector companies can bid either as independent entity, as consortia or in joint ventures for the contract. The prototype roll out is expected by 2028-29 followed by first flight in 2029 and service introduction by 2034 and series production by 2035. On 18 June 2025, the EOI was issued by ADA meant to shortlist Indian companies for prototype development, prototyping, flight testing, and certification of the AMCA. The document invited 'reputed' Indian companies which are compliant with Indian laws and are experienced in the Aerospace and Defence sector. The bidder has to establish dedicated facilities for series production of the aircraft. The bidder has to complete the complete AMCA development cycle within eight years of signing the contract and should be capable of setting up a
production line for serial production of AMCA independently. A pre-EOI meeting was scheduled for the first week of July while the deadline to respond was 16 August. As per a report from 13 September 2025, multiple prospective competitors had expressed dissatisfaction with the eligibility criteria outlined in the EOI. One such criteria was
revenue-to-
order book ratio which ensures that a large share of aeronautical projects are not taken up by any single entity or to prevent
monopolisation. HAL had written to ADA that this financial performance-related requirement is biased against the company and necessitates the formation of a
consortium or a
joint venture with a private firm to qualify. A company can be financially eligible to participate in the programme only if its order book is less than three times its revenue. However, the order book of HAL was eight times its revenue. • On 24 September,
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) entered into a
strategic partnership and the consortium is expected to submit its response for ADA's EoI notice. The consortium is expected to put together, L&T's expertise in developing strategic defence and aerospace platforms, and BEL's experience in defence electronics and systems. On 4 November, L&T announced that
Dynamatic Technologies Limited (DTL) had joined their consortium. • On 26 September,
Bharat Forge Limited (Kalyani Group),
Data Patterns (India) Limited and
BEML Limited signed a tripartite
memorandum of understanding (MoU) to participate in the AMCA programme. The companies will have an individual stake of 50%, 20% and 30%, respectively, in the consortium. The partnership would reportedly bring together the strengths of each company which includes BFL's heavy engineering pedigree, BEML's system assembly and manufacturing presence, and Data Patterns’ strength in avionics and sensors. • Another MoU was signed by
Goodluck India Limited,
BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited (BATL) and
Axiscades Technologies to submit their bid for the AMCA programme. •
Tata Advanced Systems has independently bid for the programme. •
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had released a tender outlining its requirement to select a private-sector firm to participate in the AMCA programme jointly as part of a consortium under the
public–private partnership (PPP) model. By 21 September, HAL received responses from 28 companies and had formed a committee to shortlist two of them for the consortium. The committee is on the verge of submitting a report assessing the suitability of each interested company to form a consortium, based on factors including capability, technology, financial standing, and prior experience. While ADA's EoI limits the maximum number of partners in a consortium to three, HAL is expected to respond to the EoI with either one or two partners this week. The EOI marked the qualification stage. As of 30 October, the shortlisting is expected within December. Meanwhile, the
Request for Proposal (RFP) is likely to be issued in January–March 2026 the awarding of contract is anticipated in January–March 2027. Additionally, prototype delivery and first flight is expected in 2027–28 and 2029–30, respectively. On 2 February 2026, the Defence Secretary announced that three contenders have been shortlisted for the programme. The RFP is expected to be issued within three months. Prototype roll out its expected within two to three years.
The Economic Times and
The Indian Express Media reports also indicated that HAL had made a mistake in their bid offering, on certain parts of the evaluation criteria that was to be filled mandatorily were left blank. HAL did not respond to these issues. The firm can technically bid for the
license production of the jet following prototype phase though the winning bidder will have better leverage.However, HAL has denied its disqualification by stating that the company had not received any communication regarding the same. Defence Secretary
Rajesh Kumar Singh said in May that a formal request for proposal would be issued to the players later that year.
Engine development As of December 2014, ADA had plans to issue a
request for proposal (RFP) to six
original equipment manufacturers (OEM) by April 2015, for co-development of an
afterburning low-bypass turbofan of the thrust class. As of then, AMCA had a requirement of thrust engines against its maximum
MTOW of 24.2 tonnes. On 15 July 2023, India and France agreed to collaborate for the joint development of a combat aircraft engine, which would power the Mark 2 variant of AMCA as part of the Horizon 2047 roadmap for India–France strategic partnership. A roadmap for this project would be prepared between French firm
Safran and India's
DRDO before the end of 2023. On 18 November, Dr.
Samir V. Kamat, the DRDO chairman, announced that the United States had provided the necessary permits, allowing
GE Aerospace and HAL to jointly produce the
General Electric F414 engine in India for
HAL Tejas Mark 2 and for the first two squadrons of AMCA. As of September 2024, foreign firms who offered
joint venture development included the US-origin
General Electric, UK-origin
Rolls-Royce and French-origin Safran. The latter two have also offered 100%
intellectual property rights (IPR) of engine design. Safran and Rolls-Royce have also received clearance from their respective countries for the engine development. Reportedly, Safran is the frontrunner for the deal and are discussing the developments with
ADA and
GTRE as of October 2024. In October 2024, Safran and HAL also signed an
MoU to develop industrial cooperation in forging parts’ manufacturing for commercial engines including those. HAL, in its Bangalore facility, would supply engine parts of
CFM International LEAP to
Safran Aircraft Engines. On 18 February 2025, it was reported that while France was in an advanced stages of talks with India,
Rolls-Royce Holdings was also in talks with India for the engine co-development programme for AMCA. They had offered "to co-develop and co-design, allowing India to own the IPR in India, for India for use in current as well as future programmes". They had completed the first phase of discussions for the development. As of 11 July, DRDO, on behalf of its
Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), is expected to submit a
Cabinet note in view of selecting the development partner of the AMCA's engine from UK's Rolls-Royce or France's Safran, both of which have offered full IPR and
technology transfer on the development programme. The procedure to float the Cabinet note is underway. Meanwhile, ADA has also released a
request for information and a preliminary round of discussions have been held with "prospective players". Rolls-Royce has proposed for the development of a family of high-thrust engines for application on
military transport aircraft and
airliners and Safran has proposed to develop a prototype based on the existing
Snecma M88 engine as well as boost the indigenous
GTRE GTX-35VS Kaveri programme as one of its offset obligations. By 18 July, the
Ministry of Defence officially recommended a strategic partnership with France to co-develop a next generation engines with a thrust of . The recommendation was forwarded to the Government after a consultative process including feedback from stakeholders and a technical committee that went deep into all aspects of fighter jet engine manufacturing. This strategic project is worth . Safran had earlier suggested a roadmap which would be synchronised with the developmental timeline of AMCA. As per estimates, India needs around 250 of these engines in the next decade. On 22 August 2025, the Indian
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced and confirmed that the engine for AMCA will be co-developed with Safran over a period of 10 years. The development will be a part of the Horizon 2047. The announcement will now be followed by final contract negotiations with the French company before the contract is signed. DRDO is now expected to approach the
CCS for the design, development and produce the advanced jet engine in India with full technology transfer from Safran. A total of nine prototypes will be developed over a span of 12 years. While the initial maximum thrust of the engines will be 120 kN, the same will be gradually scaled up to 140 kN. The prototypes will be produced in India under Indian IPR with Safran transferring 100% technology to its Indian counterpart,
GTRE. The technologies include key components like
single crystal blade technology which is necessary for efficient and high endurance operations in high stress and heat conditions. Though this technology has been developed by DRDO's
Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), designing the same for a such high-thrust engines is a "different level of challenge". The engines will be manufactured through
Development cum Production Partner programme. On 16 February 2026, while reviewing the progress of various projects at GTRE, the defence minister announced that the
National Aero Engine Mission has been initiated to develop a 120 kN-class indigenous fighter jet engine with France. Meanwhile, a joint study for the same is also being conducted between GTRE and the United Kingdom. ==Design==