Индийский истребитель пятого поколения AMCA: разработка и перспективы

Indian fifth generation stealth fighter programme

The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is an Indian single seat, twin engine, all weather fifth generation stealth, multirole combat aircraft being developed for the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. The Mark 1 variant of the aircraft will be a fifth generation fighter while the Mark 2 variant will have sixth generation technologies. The aircraft is designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) an aircraft design agency under MoD. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) consisting of ADA, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and a private company is being formed for the development and production of AMCA. In March 2024, the project received approval from India's Cabinet Committee on Security for the prototype development. AMCA is designed as a single seat, twin engine combat aircraft. The AMCA Mark 1 will come equipped with 5th generation technologies and Mark 2 will have the incremental 6th generation technology upgrades. The AMCA is intended to perform a multitude of missions including Air supremacy, Ground Strike, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) and Electronic Warfare (EW) missions. It is intended to supplant the Sukhoi Su 30MKI air superiority fighter, which forms the backbone of the IAF fighter fleet. The AMCA design is optimized for low radar cross section and supercruise capability. Feasibility study on AMCA and the preliminary design stage have been completed, and the project entered the detailed design phase in February 2019. The AMCA is currently the only 5th generation fighter under development in India.

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. followed by Project Definition and Preliminary Design phase in 2013. From November 2013 to December 2014, 9 design configurations of AMCA, starting from 3B 01 to 3B 09, were studied using CAD, low speed high speed wind tunnel testing, and radar cross section (RCS) testing. By the end of 2014, configuration 3B 09 was chosen. In 2015, the basic design configuration of AMCA was finalized, and has been accepted by IAF in 2016. The design work was completed in 2023, and approval for the project for prototype development was received in March 2024. 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 Mark 2 of AMCA is expected to have a more powerful engine,

In an interview given in 2020, the then Air Force Chief R. K. S. Bhadauria stated that "The planning process is already underway for combat systems like optionally manned sixth generation technologies, smart wingman concept, swarm drones, long persistent HALE (High Altitude Long Endurance) platforms and hypersonic weapons, among others. He also added that it is imperative to incorporate such advanced technologies to keep AMCA relevant.

The AMCA is a twin engine, stealth supersonic multi role fighter designed for the IAF. The AMCA would be the first fifth generation fighter to enter service with the Indian Air Force. The AMCA is designed with shoulder mounted diamond shaped trapezoidal wings, a profile with substantial area ruling to reduce drag at transonic speeds, and a stabilator V tail with large fuselage mounted tail wing. Flight control surfaces include leading and trailing edge flaps, ailerons, rudders on the canted vertical stabilizers, and all moving tailplanes; these surfaces also serve as air brakes. The cockpit features a single seat configuration which is placed high, near the air intakes and wings of the aircraft to provide good visibility to the pilot with a single bubble canopy. According to Janes Information Services quoting ADA, the airframe of AMCA will have 38–40% composite. As of October 2022, designers are still in the process of refining the radar deflection capability of AMCA. It will also use radar absorbent materials wherever necessary.

The AMCA is expected to have distributed passive sensors with Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted multi sensor data fusion to increase situational awareness and to work in tandem with the advanced electronic warfare (EW) suite onboard AMCA. The AMCA has a distributed processing system employing fast processors and smart subsystems. The AMCA will also have an integrated vehicle health monitoring system which works on sensor fusion. AMCA will be equipped with a larger and powerful variant of the Uttam AESA Radar which will use gallium nitride (GaN) technology. It will be mounted on a mechanically steerable mount. The platform will be equipped with a quadruple digital fly by optics control system using fibre optic cables to reduce weight, increase the rate of data transfer and reduce electromagnetic interference. while a more powerful joint venture (JV) engine is planned for AMCA Mark 2. As per Government statement in Rajya Sabha during Winter Session 2021, there is a proposal to jointly develop engine for AMCA with the help of foreign partner using the know how from Kaveri engine development programme. 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 document for India France strategic partnership. A roadmap for this project will be prepared between French firm Safran and India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) before the end of 2023. On 18 November 2023, Dr. Samir V. Kamat of DRDO announced that the United States has provided the necessary permits, opening the door for 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.

The AMCA features an internal weapons bay for carrying missiles and standoff precision guided munitions in stealthy configuration, while also has provision for external hardpoints for carrying ordinance externally for non stealthy missions. Directed energy weapons are also planned to be equipped on the AMCA.

Specifications can vary as the aircraft is still in development. All the information is based on available non official sources approximate and preliminary.