NEW DELHI, May 28 (NNN-PTI) – Indian Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, yesterday, approved the execution model to develop the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the country’s planned fifth-generation fighter jet, officials said.
“The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), is set to execute the programme through industry partnership,” India’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said, ADA will shortly issue an Expression of Interest for the AMCA development phase.
Experts said, it is a deviation from the past approach, when such projects would be handed over directly to the state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for manufacturing, without having to compete with others.
According to local media NDTV, the project’s estimated cost is 150 billion Indian rupees (approximately 1.76 billion U.S. dollars).
The total development cycle of the aircraft is reportedly to be about 10 years, with plans to first manufacture five prototype aircraft.– NNN-PTI
