According to The Hindu’s reports, Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), India’s new fighter jet, is expected to have its first flight by 2032.
The fighter will be a fifth-generation aircraft using stealth technology. This will include a low radar cross-section, something that will make it hard to notice for enemies. But here, India has used geometric stealth in place of material stealth. Instead of material stealth, like the use of materials for absorbing radar waves which reduce cross-section. Geometric stealth involves shape of an aircraft, which will be built in such a way that will allow it to have minimum radar footprint.
The AMCA will initially be based on geometric stealth, we can look at material stealth at a later stage.
Another official source has stated, “Apart from the technologies developed from the LCA project, the new fighter programme is important as technologies coming in through that will flow into the AMCA project.”
In the beginning, the fighter jet is set to fly with two General Electric-414 engines. But there might be a later installation of indigenous engines.
After wind tunnel testing, a basic design has been created for the jet by the agencies involved in the project. They will continue working on it in order to develop technologies for thrust vectoring, stealth and supercruise, which will be a crucial part of the jet.
Besides, the technologies and skills developed during the project of building the Light Combat Aircraft can be further used by the agencies in the future.
