South Asia and Beyond

AMCA: India’s 5th Gen Fighter

India’s Cabinet Committee on Security on March 7 approved the project to design and develop the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft more popularly known as AMCA as a fifth-generation, medium weight low observable fighter jet.

To be designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) which functions as a Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) arm, the government has allocated Rs 15,000 crore as initial funding with more money to be provided as and when required.

The aircraft will propel India into a select group of nations that have or are developing 5th generation fighter jets, based on futuristic technology in partnership with various private and public sector agencies.

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It is designed as a medium-weight, multi-role fighter jet with advanced features such as enhanced sensor fusion, advanced work material, advanced communication system that is difficult to intercept, edge computing capability in mission computer, leading to enhanced and faster situation awareness, and reduced cockpit workload for pilots.

Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale also explains why the Indian Air Force prefers to describe AMCA as a ‘low observable’ aircraft and not a stealth fighter jet in this episode of Simply Nitin.

Nitin A. Gokhale

Left to himself, Nitin A. Gokhale would rather watch films and sports matches but his day job as a media entrepreneur, communications specialist, analyst and author, leaves him little time to indulge in his primary interests. Gokhale in fact started his career in journalism in 1983 as a sports reporter. Since then he has, in the past 41 years, traversed the entire spectrum across print, broadcast and digital space. One of South Asia's leading strategic analysts, Gokhale has moved on from conventional media to become an independent media entrepreneur running three niche digital platforms—BharatShakti, StratNewsGlobal and Interstellar—besides undertaking consultancy and training workshops in communications for military institutions, corporates and individuals. Now better known for his conflict coverage and strategic analyses, Gokhale has lived and reported from India’s North-east for 23 years between 1983 and 2006, been on the ground at Kargil in the summer of 1999 and also brought us live coverage from Sri Lanka’s Eelam War IV between 2006-2009.    An alumni of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies in Hawaii, Gokhale now writes, lectures and analyses security and strategic matters in Indo-Pacific and travels regularly to US, Europe, Australia, South and South-East Asia to take part in various seminars and conferences. Gokhale is also a popular visiting faculty at India’s Defence Services Staff College, the three war colleges, India's National Defence College, College of Defence Management and the IB’s intelligence school.

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