AMCA Quantum Radar: AMCA is being developed as a stealth aircraft. Its design is expected to reduce the amount of radar energy that comes back to an enemy radar. This makes the aircraft harder to find and track. But stealth does not mean that an aircraft becomes completely invisible.
Modern stealth normally works by reducing the aircraft’s radar cross-section and carefully controlling its shape and materials. Other parts of the aircraft’s signature also matter. Heat from engines can be detected by infrared sensors. Radio emissions can also give away information if they are not properly controlled.
AMCA is expected to use low-observable design along with internal weapon carriage, advanced sensors, electronic warfare and sensor fusion. Sensor fusion means information from different sensors can be brought together so that the pilot gets a clearer picture of what is happening around the aircraft.
The wider AMCA programme is also moving ahead. In May 2026, the government said the programme had an overall outlay of around ₹15,000 crore. A new Core Integration and Flight Testing Centre is being established at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh at a cost of about ₹2,000 crore. The facility is meant to help with aircraft integration, testing, validation and certification.
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The programme has also entered a new industry phase. In May 2026, the Aeronautical Development Agency issued an RFP to three private-sector-led groups for the development of AMCA prototypes. The shortlisted participants include Tata Advanced Systems, an L&T-led consortium with Bharat Electronics and a Bharat Forge-led group involving BEML.
What is Quantum Radar?
Quantum radar is still an emerging technology. It is based on ideas from quantum physics and tries to use special properties of light and quantum correlations to improve the detection of very weak signals.
A normal radar sends out radio waves and waits for some of that energy to bounce back from an object. The radar then studies the returned signal to understand where the object is and what it may be. Quantum radar research looks at a different way of doing this. Some proposed systems use pairs of linked photons and try to use the relationship between them when looking for very weak returns.
The important thing to understand is that quantum radar is not some magic machine that can automatically see every stealth aircraft from huge distances.
Research is still going on. Scientists continue to debate how useful different quantum-radar designs would be in real military situations. Some studies have presented promising laboratory results while other research has argued that the practical advantages may be much smaller than some claims suggest. A 2024 technical study, for example, questioned whether current quantum-radar proposals can provide a useful advantage for detecting stealth targets in real conditions.
India is Already Looking at Quantum Radar
The Department of Defence Production’s official innovation list shows a 2026 ADITI 4.0 challenge called “Design and Development of Sovereign Quantum Radar”. The challenge comes from the Indian Navy and was opened under the government’s defence innovation system. The application period closed on May 4, 2026.
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The project is aimed at creating an indigenous quantum radar. The stated focus includes quantum illumination, quantum sensing and the use of entangled photon pairs. The technology is being explored for finding low-observable targets and dealing with electronically jammed environments.
This does not mean India already has an operational quantum radar ready to hunt stealth fighters. It means the country is starting research and development in this area so that it does not have to wait until the technology becomes mature in other countries.
India has also taken wider steps in quantum defence research. DRDO opened a Quantum Technology Research Centre in Delhi in 2025. The centre is working on technologies such as quantum communications, atomic magnetometers and other quantum systems that could have defence uses. Dr Suma Varughese was among the senior DRDO officials involved with the centre at the time.
