India's 5th-gen fighter looks to move off the drawing board, into the air

Business Standard was granted an exclusive briefing at HAL Bengaluru on the progress of the AMCA project

The US has its F-22 Raptor, and F-35 Lightning II; Russia has its Sukhoi-57; China has its J-20 Chengdu, and J-31 Shenyang —  all of them 5th-generation (Gen-5) combat aircraft built to rule the skies.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) isn't ready to be left behind. With the experience gained from building the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA), New Delhi is pushing its aircraft production monopoly, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), to join hands with the Defence Research & Development Organisation’s (DRDO)’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to build an Indian Gen-5 fighter, dubbed the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

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