New Delhi: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has dropped out of the race to develop India’s fifth-generation stealth fighter jet or AMCA (advanced medium combat aircraft) programme, the first time the state-run aircraft maker will not be involved in one of the country’s most important projects, officials said on Tuesday.
Representative image.Of the seven firms from public and private sector firms that bid for the program last year, three have met the mandatory criteria and advanced to the next stage of the evaluation process involving submission of price bids for construction of five AMCA prototypes and a structural test sample, the officials added, requesting anonymity.
HAL bid for the program with two smaller firms that did not meet the mandatory criteria, HT learnt. The names of the three players who will be asked to submit their cost bids were not immediately known. The contract is expected to be awarded to the lowest bidder within three months.
Apart from HAL, those competing for the program include Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Adani Defense and Aerospace, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Goodluck India with BrahMos Aerospace Thiruvananthapuram Limited and Axiscades Technologies, and Limited’s partner Pattern Limited in India.
The companies had responded to a call for Expression of Interest (EoI) by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) last June to shortlist companies capable of developing prototypes, supporting flight tests and certification of the indigenous stealth fighter.
Weeks after the Ministry of Defense unveiled its long-awaited plan to fast-track stealth fighter development, the ADA invited EoI for the AMCA program and announced that the operational model would be competitive and provide equal opportunities to public and private sector organizations.
The approval of the industrial partnership model by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh last year came at a critical juncture as HAL, the country’s sole manufacturer of fighter jets, was till then considered the frontrunner for the programme.
The seven entities were first evaluated by a committee of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) officials and the findings were reviewed by a panel headed by Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh.
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ADA is implementing the program through industry partnerships. The EoI stipulated that the shortlisted companies should be able to set up a manufacturing facility for series production of the AMCA and the contract period for development, prototyping, flight testing and certification should not exceed eight years.
The first prototype is expected to make its first flight in 2029, and AMCA development is likely to be completed by 2034 before entering production a year later, as previously reported by HT.
Accelerating the AMCA program is important because China has already deployed the J-20 fifth-generation fighter, is rolling out the J-35 stealth fighters that Pakistan is looking to buy, and has tested two so-called sixth-generation platforms, the J-36 and J-50.
In 2024, the Cabinet Committee on Safety approved the design and prototype development of AMCA at a cost of approx. ₹15,000 crores. The IAF’s modernization map plans to deploy around 120 stealth fighters (six squadrons) from 2035 onwards, with advanced aircraft forming a critical component of future air warfare.
The first two squadrons will have Mk-1 versions powered by American F-414 engines, while the rest will have more advanced Mk-2 versions equipped with more powerful engines developed in India with French cooperation.
The government may soon approve a joint project between French firm Safran and India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), a lab under DRDO, to design and manufacture a 120-kilonewton thrust class engine to power AMCA. The Safran-GTRE combine, HT learnt, will produce nine prototypes over 12 years, with 100% technology and intellectual property rights transferred to India.
AMCA’s EoI states that an applicant can be a single company, joint venture or a consortium. The eligibility conditions related to financial performance of companies in the EoI issued by ADA are such that it will be very difficult for HAL to go it alone, HAL chief DK Sunil said in an interview to HT last year.
“There are clauses that have loaded the dice against HAL. The EoI says that if a company’s order book is three times its turnover, it will get zero marks. In HAL’s case, it is about 8X. That means whoever has fewer orders will get more marks. I don’t know why they did it. Still, we have said with some partnerships, “We will go with the Sanpur project some time.
Hal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were not aware of the matter.
