Govt issues request for proposal to pvt firms for 5th-gen Amca jet

The defence ministry has invited bids from three shortlisted private-sector consortiums to build prototypes for India's indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft

The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday issued a “request for proposal” (RFP) for the indigenous fifth-generation stealth advanced medium combat aircraft (Amca) programme for the Indian Air Force, ANI reported citing defence officials.

 

The ministry has issued the tender to three shortlisted bid­ders — Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, a consortium of Bharat Forge-Bharat Earth Movers Ltd-Data Patterns, and Larsen & Toubro-Bharat Electronics Ltd along with Dynamatic Technologies as an exclusive partner for the programme. 

 

An RFP is a document through which the government invites selected firms to submit technical and commercial proposals for a project.  

The winning partner will work with the Aeronautical Development Agency, under the Defence Research and Development Organisation, to build five flying prototypes and one structural test aircraft. The shortlisted firms, selected on the basis of their technical capabilities, will compete to build prototypes of the fighter aircraft before a final production contract is awarded. 

 

 

Work will be carried out at the new 650-acre testing facility being developed at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh. It was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu earlier this month. The Amca facility, being developed at an estimated cost of around ₹2,000 crore, is expected to be operational within a year and generate employment for nearly 7,500 people.

 

The overall Amca development programme is estimated to cost around ₹15,000 crore, with the first Amca prototypes targeted to fly by 2032 and deliveries of the fighter aircraft expected to begin by 2035.