This article first appeared in Business Standard on Mar 20, 2026
As air warfare becomes “increasingly air-centric”, India has indicated that it is evaluating participation in a sixth-generation fighter ecosystem, signalling a shift beyond its indigenous fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
The Ministry of Defence informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence that the Indian Air Force is “exploring collaboration” with one of the two sixth-generation programmes: the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a joint effort of the UK, Italy and Japan, or the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), which France, Germany and Spain are developing.
The committee was told that the objective is to assess potential partnerships to ensure India remains aligned with emerging technologies in advanced combat aviation.
The global sixth-generation effort is currently between Europe’s FCAS and the UK–Japan–Italy-led GCAP. Both programmes target operational timelines between 2035-2040 and are expected to cost tens of billions of dollars across partner nations.
Unlike fifth-generation fighters such as stealth aircraft, these programmes are not centred on a single platform but are designed as integrated combat ecosystems, combining crewed fighters, unmanned systems and real-time data networks into a unified architecture.
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