India's 5th gen stealth fighter jet set to soar ahead of Pakistan as China preps for 6th gen aircrafts
The committee, led by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and comprising IAF Vice Chief Air Marshal S P Dharkar, Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar, and senior officials from DRDO and the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), is expected to submit its report next month.
This move comes as Pakistan aims to acquire at least 40 J-35A fifth-generation stealth jets from China, which is already showcasing prototypes of its sixth-generation aircraft.
Meanwhile, China has stationed its fifth-generation Chengdu J-20 jets at airfields along the Indian border, such as Hotan and Shigatse.
Given this, alongside delays in the production of the fourth-generation Tejas jets by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a source told TOI that the committee's primary goal is to «devise how best to get AMCA from the drawing board into the air by shrinking timelines and improving efficiency, including a good workable production-cum-business model with much greater private sector participation.»
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The committee will also evaluate plans for developing an indigenous 110-kilonewton thrust-class engine to power the 25-tonne AMCA, with foreign collaborations in engine technology, said the report.
Companies like US-based General Electric, France’s Safran, and UK’s Rolls-Royce are reportedly competing for the contract. This committee was formed after a previous defence secretary-led group laid out a detailed roadmap for addressing the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) operational gaps in a time-bound manner, which was submitted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on March 3.
In March 2024, the cabinet committee on security, led by the PM Modi, approved the full-scale engineering development of five AMCA prototypes, with an initial