AMCA Project: On 27 May 2026, the Ministry of Defence moved the AMCA project forward by sending Request for Proposals, or RFPs, to three shortlisted teams. These were Larsen and Toubro with Bharat Electronics Limited, Tata Advanced Systems, and Bharat Forge with BEML. The work is for five prototypes of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, which is India’s planned indigenous stealth fighter jet. The project cost is estimated at about ₹15,000 crore. Reports also say this will create the second fighter jet production setup in India, after Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
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What Happened on 15 May, 2026?
On 15 May 2026, Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stones for the “Core Integration & Flight Testing Centre” at Puttaparthi. This centre is meant to speed up work on the “Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA)” and other future Indian aircraft projects. The facility is being built at a cost of about ₹2,000 crore. PIB also said the same event included the foundation stone for a naval systems manufacturing facility in Anakapalli district.
From Model to Real Jet
The AMCA had already been shown to the public earlier. In February 2025, DRDO displayed a full-scale model of India’s first “5.5 generation stealth aircraft” at the India Pavilion during Aero India 2025. The aircraft is being designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency for the Indian Air Force. In May 2025, the Defence Ministry approved the AMCA Programme Execution Model. That model gives private and public firms equal chance to bid, either alone, as joint ventures, or as consortia. PIB also said the plan is to build five prototypes before series production begins.
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The current reported timeline says the first prototype should come by early 2027, and the first flight is expected in 2029. The AMCA Mark 1 is also expected to use an American GE-414 engine. That is the engine link that keeps showing up in reports as the jet moves from paper and model to real metal and real sky
