Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft [AMCA] Development | Updates & Discussions.

[MimophantSlayer]

Expression of interest released by ADA for seeking the participation of industries in the manufacture of AMCA NGTD.

 

[Hindustani78]

https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...-add-muscle/story-kfvxMzNtsamshNd7daPGtN.html
The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to start the process of inviting Indian military contractors to build fighter jets in the country under the government’s Make in India plan in the next four weeks , a person familiar with the project said.

This multi-billion-dollar project to build 114 jets will be “directly linked” to the development of an indigenous futuristic stealth fighter – the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the person added.

The air force plans to issue a request for information (RFI) before DefExpo-2018 — a military systems exhibition by the defence ministry — opens in Chennai on April 11.

“The document will not specify the number of engines the jets should have, leaving the field open for makers of both single- and twin-engine planes,” said the person who asked not to be named.

An earlier plan involved pursuing two separate projects to build single-engine and twin-engine fighters in India but that distinction has been discarded now.

The RFI is the first step towards finding a new warplane for the air force and Indian global plane manufacturers will respond to it with operational features and technical parameters of their platforms. That will pave the way for the air force to make a case for getting the ministry’s ‘acceptance of necessity’ (AoN) – the government’s stamp of approval to pursue a military programme.

“After the AoN comes, we could either opt for a government-to-government deal or put out a tender. Both options are open at this stage,” said a senior officer tracking the air force’s modernisation on the condition of anonymity.

The manufacturer that India finally decides to collaborate with will have to commit to transfer of technology not only for the fighter to be built in India but also for the AMCA that is on the drawing board.

“We have asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to prepare a list of technologies they need help with for the AMCA. There will be clear clause on the transfer of those technologies in the contract,” said the officer quoted above.

Experts say the full-scale engineering development of the AMCA up to the prototype stage will take upwards of a decade and its flight first could take place around 2030.

India had floated a global tender for 126 planes more than a decade ago but it was cancelled after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in April 2015 that India would directly buy 36 jets from HAL.

Six prototypes fighters took part in that contest before the Tejas and the AMCA made it to the last round.

The new competition is also likely to be among Rafale, Eurofighter, MiG-35, F/A-18, F-16 and Gripen in NATO.

“The technology has evolved during the past decade. In their present form, F/A-18 and Gripen NG would not have been rejected in the older contest,” the officer said.

The air force wants to speed up the project as the count of its fighter squadrons has shrunk to 31 compared to an optimum strength of 42-plus units required to fight a two-front war.

The Chinese and Pakistani air forces operate at 60 and 25 fighter squadrons respectively.

 

[Garian]

Thrust vectoring is a must.

 

[Water Car Engineer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/984680612333342720

 

[Trisonics]

https://twitter.com/indiandefence11/sta ... 0096417792 ---> Here is DRDO developed Ultra Wide Band (ULB) Radar Absorbing Skin Prototypes which will be used for Indian Stealth Aircrafts like AMCA and AURA.

 

[MimophantSlayer]

https://twitter.com/indiandefence11/sta ... 0096417792 ---> Here is DRDO developed Ultra Wide Band (ULB) Radar Absorbing Skin Prototypes which will be used for Indian Stealth Aircrafts like AMCA and AURA.

Already posted.
#569
Jaumann absorber.

 

[HariPrasad]

You speculate about its capabilities and comes to a conclusion.

Now Su 30 MKIs able to detect J 20 even without AESA Radar from a long distance. Now tell me whether I was speculating?

 

[+1S]

Technical indicators are very close to Fc31. Has the project entered the engineering prototype stage?

 

[Hindustani78]

NEW DELHI, August 19, 2018 21:52 IST
Updated: August 19, 2018 21:52 IST

India’s only fifth generation aircraft programme following the decision not to go ahead with the fifth generation project with Russia.

At Aero India 2016, DRDO officials had stated that the basic design configuration has been frozen after wind tunnel testing and there are three critical technologies that need to be developed -- stealth, thrust vectoring and super cruise.

The aircraft powered by the same engine on the LCA Mk-2 variant which is in the design phase.

A LCA Mk-2 variant engine produces 98kN thrust compared to 84kN thrust of the LCA Mk1 variant engine.

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,” another official source said.

The plan is to build on the capabilities and expertise developed during the development of the light combat aircraft (LCA) and produce a medium fifth generation fighter aircraft.

The Indian Air Force has given land to the Defence Research and Development Organisation to set up facilities for the project.

“There are two major ways of making a military platform stealthier. One is geometric stealth and other is material stealth. In geometric stealth, the shape of the aircraft is designed at such angles so as to deflect away maximum radar waves thereby minimising its radar cross section. In material stealth, radar-absorbing materials are used in making the aircraft which will absorb the radio waves thus reducing the radar footprint. The AMCA will initially be based on geometric stealth, we can look at material stealth at a later stage,” the source said.

“The AMCA will feature geometric stealth and will initially fly with two LCA Mk-2 variant engines. Once we develop our own engine, it can be replaced with that, ” a defence source said.

Development work on the jet is under way.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

https://twitter.com/x/status/984680612333342720

The tails don't seem canted enough.

 

[MimophantSlayer]

 

[Water Car Engineer]

Guessing VEM tech is producing part of the fuselage for AMCA TD.

The Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) project of India has gone deep into the detail design phase now. Along with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), hundreds of scientists spread across at least 20 labs of Defence Research and Development Organisation are now engrossed in critical work to find solutions to a number of next-generation technologies that need to be proven.

With the project definition phase (PDP) getting over in 2017, Onmanorama can confirm that scientists have already walked some distance designing the AMCA, India’s stealth fighter.

ADA, the designer of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas, is spearheading the AMCA mission.

The AMCA will be propelled by a US-origin GE F414 engine with a thrust of over 90kN and this will be an interim step by the makers till a higher-thrust engine of 110kN is finalised. The F414 engine, set to power the Tejas Mk-II, will power AMCA as well, till India develops a 110kN engine, possibly in collaboration with a foreign partner.

The current plan is to fly AMCA with the F414 engine for the first six-seven years, in what the designers now term as an ‘interim engine’ for India’s fifth-generation stealth platform. While the design phase has already been sanctioned to commence activities, the final approval for AMCA from the government (Cabinet Committee on Security) is in process.

The plan is to build four prototypes and fly the first one before 2025, which is seven years from now.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is said to be working out the exact numbers for this future fighter, while the AMCA Directorate at ADA is ensuring a robust foundation for this big-ticket desi project.

Model to test stealth

The feasibility study for the AMCA began in 2009 with an initial funding of Rs 90 crore. Last year, about Rs 400 crore came in for the detail design phase (DDP), which is expected to be completed in the next three years. Post that, the AMCA will get on to the crucial development phase: Flight testing and eventually certification.

With India finally ejecting out of jointly making the Fifth-Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA) with Russia, there was a stalemate over AMCA for a while and now the flight path seems to have cleared.

“This is for the first time ever in the country we are on a stealth design and the challenges are unique here. However, an advantage is we just have to concentrate on the fifth-generation technologies like stealth since we have already mastered all the fourth-generation technologies through LCA,” an official told.

A full-scale model (1:1) of AMCA is being manufactured by VEM Technologies for stealth measurements.

DRDO is also displaying a scaled model of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft with audio-visual effects at Aero India 2019.

The 1:1 model will be taken to the Orange facility in Hyderabad or to Defence Laboratory, Jodhpur (DLJ), for testing the stealth features. DRDO’s Orange facility was opened in 2015 to test current and futuristic weapon systems under development.

The scientists need to measure stealth features on the modular model being developed by VEM Technologies. Modularity is provided, so that new stealth technologies can be immediately incorporated and validated on the model. Orange can provide radar cross section (RCS) measurements and the pylon system at the facility can lift payloads up to 35 tonnes.

“Earlier, you used to make an aircraft and then check its stealth features. Now, from design stage itself, stealth features are part of the optimisation. It was an afterthought earlier, but in a fifth-generation fighter, stealth gets priority,” the official said.

Scientists are hopeful of getting this 1:1 AMCA model ready for tests by the end of this year. Further optimisation of stealth features is under way. This is being done not only by scientists in DRDO and CSIR, but also many academic institutions including IISc in Bengaluru and various IITs.

“Stealth and aerodynamics don’t go hand in hand, so you have to guarantee some minimum performance and optimise for stealth,” the official said.

AMCA has been designed with multi-disciplinary optimisation (MDO) engineering route with stealth as an optimising parameter. (MDO brings in a number of engineering disciplines while finding solutions to complex problems.)

Loaded with features

Detailed R&D on materials, paints and structures is being undertaken by various labs now. Study is also under way on flight control, avionics, aerodynamics, composite structure and general systems like brakes, hydraulics and fuels systems.

“We hope to have the first flight of AMCA before 2025 with all the stealth features being established by then. With reduced infrared (IR), we are working on the super-cruise abilities that give the aircraft capability to fly at supersonic speeds without the afterburner,” says the official.

Passive sensors, internal weapon bay, advanced integrated avionics, next-generation active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, 360-degree enhanced situation awareness, integrated vehicle monitoring system (IVHM), serpentine air intake, infrared search and track (IRST), missile approach warning system (MAWS) and diverterless supersonic intake (DSI) are some of the features being claimed by Indian scientists that will make AMCA a powerful fighting machine.

Added features like suppression of enemy air defence (SEAD) and destruction of enemy air defence (DEAD) will also give more teeth to the beyond-visual range (BVR) characteristics of the AMCA.

“Parallel efforts to camouflage the aircraft to achieve visual and IR stealth will continue in the next few years,” adds the official.

As this Onmanorama Aero India 2019 special report jettisons into the web space, the AMCA back-room boys are initiating the full-scale engineering development (FSED) plans for AMCA.

India’s home-grown fighter programmes are on inspiring flightpath now, with the scientists gaining confidence in converting dreams into reality at a relatively faster pace. The lessons from LCA will probably act as a ready-reckoner.


https://www.theweek.in/news/india/2019/02/20/aero-india-indigenous-stealth-fighter-engine.html

 

[Sunny4pak]

 

[Water Car Engineer]

DSI was studied for AMCA

 

[Ultima Thule]

Its a final/finished design or temporarily design???, but i have to say this design is quite similar to Yak-141 with stealth capability, am i right @CyclopS