Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inspects an aircraft during the inauguration of the India Pavilion at Aero India 2025, in Bengaluru on Monday.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The unveiling of the first-ever mainframe of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh marked a historic milestone in India’s aerospace journey at ‘AeroIndia 25’ in Bengaluru on Monday. It also highlighted the culmination of four years of work by Hyderabad-based VEM Technologies, which has developed the mainframe using advanced composites and special alloys.
AMCA conceptualised and designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the Ministry of Defence, falls in the medium-weight category (up to 25 tons), promising cutting-edge capabilities for India’s defence forces. It is the fifth-generation stealth fighter, designed as a twin-engine, multi-role aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and represents the country’s first such indigenous effort.
The design was handed over to the private defence and aerospace firm in 2019 to build the first mainframe. The current full-scale engineering model has been developed using indigenously sourced raw materials from the public sector defence unit MIDHANI (Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited) and a few private firms, a senior official said.
The fabrication, tooling, fusing, and integration of various parts, including the front fuselage with cockpit, central and rear fuselage, and both the left and right wings, incorporate special-grade aluminum, steel alloys, and composites.
About 65 engineers, including 22 designers from the company, worked under ADA’s supervision to build the first-ever AMCA mainframe, using a dedicated assembly line to ensure precision. The mainframe will undergo further testing by the Indian Air Force and other agencies before advancing through further design iterations as part of the development cycle.
The model being displayed is of contemporary design but will be further evolved, as per standard practice for combat aircraft development worldwide, a senior official explained. Meanwhile, ADA is also working on technologies like AI-powered electronic pilot, netcentric warfare systems, etc.
VEM Technologies, which previously manufactured the central fuselage for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas — produced by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — is now expanding its capabilities. The company is setting up a ₹1,000-crore integrated defence facility at Yelgoi near Zaheerabad in Sangareddy to develop various systems for India’s defence needs.
Published – February 11, 2025 02:33 am IST
