If reports are to be believed, China could fast-track the deliveries of J-35A stealth fighters to Pakistan. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar reportedly finalized the logistics and financing details of the J-35 fighter jet deal during his visit to China immediately after Operation Sindoor.
Whether China can fast-track the production and deliveries of an aircraft that has just begun production remains a moot point. The earlier spoken timelines for such deliveries were 2029.
Is it the Pakistani military’s rhetoric to appease the sentiments of a public that has felt demoralised after India struck military and terror targets across the length and depth of the country?
Meanwhile, the timeline for the induction of India’s home-grown fifth-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is around 2035.
How an economically impoverished Pakistan, surviving on IMF doles for its basic survival, will pay for such expensive aircraft is being questioned. Will China give it as a gift to keep India threatened from multiple fronts? Or, as some say, it may be at a 50 percent discount as a reward for showcasing Chinese aircraft (J-10CE and JF-17) and aerial missiles (PL-15) in a good light during Op Sindoor, as they tout?
Such a supply will alter the air dominance dynamics in the subcontinent, which has generated a heated debate about India’s immediate options.
Meanwhile, the Indian strategic community is discussing the need for an interim fifth-generation fighter for the Indian Air Force (IAF). China, India’s major adversary, already has around 300 J-20 fifth-generation fighters, and the number is growing by around 60 a year.
China has also unveiled two sixth-generation fighter jets, Chengdu J-36 and Shenyang J-50, on December 26, 2024, in Chengdu, representing their next evolutionary leap based on two decades of R&D.
The only other mature fifth-generation fighters flying in reasonable numbers are the American Lockheed Martin’s F-35, F-22 Raptor, Chinese J-20, and Russian Su-57, to some extent.
It is time to examine what a fifth-generation fighter is, why India needs one, and the complexities of the choices between them. Also, should India add more 4.5-generation aircraft or join some international consortium for a sixth-generation aircraft?
What is a Fifth Generation Fighter?
The fifth generation was ushered in by the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor in late 2005. These aircraft were designed from the start to operate in a network-centric combat environment and feature extremely low, all-aspect, multi-spectral signatures employing advanced materials and shaping techniques.
They have multifunction AESA radars with high bandwidth and low probability of own intercept. IRST and other sensors are fused in for Situational Awareness (SA) and to constantly track all targets of interest around the aircraft’s 360-degree bubble. Avionics suites rely on extensive use of very high-speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) technology and high-speed data buses.
The integration of all these elements is claimed to provide fifth-generation fighters with a “first-look, first-shot, first-kill capability.”
In addition to their high resistance to ECM, they can function as “mini-AWACS.” Integrated electronic warfare systems, integrated communications, navigation, and identification (CNI), centralized “vehicle health monitoring,” fibre-optic data transmission, and stealth are important features.
Thrust vectoring enhances maneuver performance and helps reduce take-off and landing distances. A supercruise is inbuilt. The layout and internal structures minimize RCS over a broad bandwidth of frequencies. Primary weapons are carried in internal weapon bays to maintain a low signature.
Stealth technology has now advanced to the point where it can be employed without a trade-off with aerodynamic performance. Signature-reduction techniques include special shaping approaches, thermoplastic materials, extensive structural use of advanced composites, conformal sensors, heat-resistant coatings, low-observable wire meshes to cover intake and cooling vents, heat ablating tiles on the exhaust troughs, and coating internal and external metal areas with radar-absorbent materials and paints.
These aircraft are very expensive. The F-22 costs around $227 million. Despite a large production scale, Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighters will cost, on average, $95 million, depending on the variant.
China’s J-20 has been flying since January 2011, and combat units started inducting in early 2018. Today, they have nearly 300 aircraft.
The other operational fifth-generation aircraft includes Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57.
The Shenyang J-31 (now designated J-35) first flew in October 2012. The program has received government funding and is being sought after by both the PLA Air Force (PLAAF) and PLA Naval Aviation (PLANAF). Pakistan is trying to be its first export customer.
Sixth Generation Technologies
Sixth-gen technology includes advanced digital capabilities, high-capacity networking, AI, data fusion, cyber warfare, and battlefield command, control, and communications (C3) capabilities.
Increased speed and range. Advanced stealth airframes and avionics. A more modular design, with primary aircraft components able to be swapped within hours to optimize for the mission requirements and ease the introduction of future upgrades. Software Architecture with the separation of flight-critical operations from other functionality. Use of advanced GaN transistors in AESA radar.
Increased battlefield survivability in the highly contested, anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) environment and enhanced ground support/attack adapted to the future threat environment.
An initial focus on air superiority roles has moved away from close-in dogfighting, which is becoming less common, and instead broadened to embrace ground support, cyber warfare, and even space warfare capabilities, with very long-range air-to-air missiles (VLRAAM) capability remaining important.
The flexibility to undertake manned and unmanned missions is also sought, along with the ability to integrate with more numerous fleets of satellite drones and ground sensors in a high-traffic networked environment to deliver full “data-to-decision” (D2D) capability.
The sixth-generation fighters will have mostly single-seat cockpits. Basic flying and procedures training will be mostly conducted on simulators. Some will be optionally manned, which will perform AI-supported missions. Manned fighters will control “Loyal Wingman” or a swarm of drones for both offensive and defensive tasks.
The aircraft will be able to act as an airborne network node. It will be capable of receiving and relaying data to multiple platforms, such as other aircraft, ground vehicles, or satellites. It will also process data onboard and dynamically generate new target lists or update mission parameters on the fly.
Increased-range sensors and standoff weapons that can take both aerial and surface targets are needed. Greater electrical power generation is also needed to enable directed energy weapons (DEW) such as laser close-in-weapon systems (CIWS).
A virtual cockpit and helmet-mounted display allow the pilot 360-degree vision and eliminate many cockpit displays. It will use Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology. The sixth-generation strike capability includes a system of systems, including communications, space capabilities, standoff, and stand-in options.
Chinese sixth-generation aircraft, Chengdu J-36, a tri-jet tailless double-delta winged aircraft, and Shenyang J-50, featuring a cranked arrow configuration with sharply swept lambda wings, have already flown.
US Sixth Generation Boeing F-47
On September 14, 2020, the USA revealed that it had secretly designed, built, and flown at least one prototype of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter.
On 21 March 2025, President Trump announced that the centrepiece aircraft would be the F-47 and that Boeing would be awarded the engineering and manufacturing development contract, worth more than $20 billion.
The Boeing F-47, an air superiority sixth-generation fighter, will succeed the F-22 in the United States Air Force (USAF).
The service aims to field it by the end of the decade. USAF intends to buy “185-plus” F-47s, which will have a combat radius of more than 1,000 nautical miles and a top speed faster than Mach 2.
Being able to pierce deeply into the enemy’s A2/AD bubble will be an absolutely essential feature. There will be a premium on range and overall endurance.
Other Sixth Generation Fighter Programs
The Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) is a multinational initiative led by the United Kingdom, Japan, and Italy to jointly develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter.
In December 2023, the three governments signed a treaty to develop a common fighter jet. They merged their previously separate sixth-generation projects, such as the United Kingdom-led Tempest, developed with Italy, and the Japanese Mitsubishi F-X.
Under the current timeline, the program expects to begin the formal development phase in 2025, with a demonstrator aircraft flying in 2027 and production aircraft entering service in 2035. India is being wooed to join the GCAP.
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is a French-German-Italian initiative being developed by Dassault Aviation, Airbus, and Indra Sistemas. The FCAS will consist of a Next-Generation Weapon System (NGWS) as well as other air assets for the future operational battle space.
The NGWS’s components will be remote carrier vehicles (swarming drones) and a New Generation Fighter (NGF), a planned sixth-generation jet. It will replace France’s Rafale and Germany and Spain’s Typhoons. A test flight of a demonstrator is expected around 2027, and the aircraft will enter service around 2040.
Russian Fifth-Generation Aircraft
Russia’s Sukhoi Su-57 ‘Felon’ evolved from the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA), contract for which was signed in October 2007. The FGFA itself had evolved from Russia’s PAK FA. By 2014, however, the Indian Air Force (IAF) began voicing concerns over performance, cost, and work-share.
India found that the aircraft did not meet its requirements and eventually left the partnership in 2018. Sukhoi continued to develop and promote the Su-57 for prospective export customers.
The export variant, designated Su-57E, was officially unveiled at the MAKS-2019 air show on 28 August 2019. The Su-57 has been showcased at many airshows, including in China and India.
The first operational unit was formed in 2021. It is supposed to be a multi-role aircraft with significant air-to-air and ground attack capability. The aircraft were first reportedly used in the Syrian campaign in 2018. Russia has claimed that Su-57 saw significant combat in Ukraine. Around 42 Su-57 have been produced to date. Russia has already ordered nearly 30 more. Numbers will increase as they go ahead.
India’s AMCA
India’s fifth-generation fighter AMCA will be a stealth, multirole, single-seat, twin-engine, air superiority fighter with ground-strike, Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD), and Electronic Warfare (EW) missions.
Designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), it will be built by a public-private joint venture between ADA, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and an Indian private company. The initial development cost is estimated to be around Rs 15,000 crore (approx. $2 billion).
In March 2024, India’s Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the project for prototype development, and mass production is expected to begin by 2035.
The development of AMCA will take place in two phases: AMCA Mk-1 and AMCA Mk-2, which will majorly differ in the Indigenous content and futuristic features. Mk-2 will focus more on stealth, EW, and a futuristic pilot-AI interface. It will have DEWs and thrust-vectored engines with a serrated nose pattern. MK-2 will also incorporate sixth-generation technologies. The aircraft will one day replace the Sukhoi Su-30MKI.
The AMCA design is optimised for low radar cross-section and super-cruise capability. AMCA successfully completed its systems-level critical design review (CDR) in 2022. Metal cutting has already begun. DRDO expects to roll out the first prototype by 2027 and the first flight in 2029.
The first three prototypes will conduct developmental flight trials, whereas the next two will focus on weapon trials. They will be rolled out over 8-9 months.
The aircraft’s mass production is planned to start by 2035. The IAF plans to procure at least 125 AMCA in Mark-1 and Mark-2 configurations. The Mark 2 AMCA is expected to have a more powerful engine, sixth-generation features, and technologies to stay relevant in the coming decades.
General Fighter Aircraft Technology Status India
Most parts of the airframe are made in India. Some systems, like the aero engine, are still imported. Some other avionics and airborne radar are being made through joint ventures with friendly foreign companies.
The weapons are mostly made in India. BrahMos is an Indo-Russian Joint Venture. Sixth-generation technologies are on the drawing board. It can be seen that India is finally coming of age in its fighter aircraft manufacturing ecosystem. However, LCA Mk1A induction has been running behind schedule for 15 months already, and it is not necessarily due to the aero-engine alone. IAF may be forced to accept the MK1A with concessions.
Indigenous aircraft are intended to provide the bulk of the IAF and Indian Navy’s manned tactical airpower in the coming decades.
The Ministry of Defense (MoD) had set up a high-level committee to address IAF shortages. The committee was to understand the shortages of fighter jets, weapons, and other equipment and suggest solutions, including accelerating Indigenous production and selectively inviting foreign collaborations, amid growing security challenges from China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The report has been submitted, but details are not in the public domain.
Does India Need An Interim 5th-Gen Fighter?
India is one of the most threatened nations, with two very powerful nuclear-armed adversaries as its neighbours. With both of them, there are serious boundary disputes, and India has fought multiple wars. China plans to increase its J-20 production to 100 a year and targets to have 1,000 by 2030, when AMCA will be making its first flight. It will have 1500 by 2035, when India will optimistically induct the AMCA.
Pakistan is already talking to China to induct the J-35A. Also, around 200 Pakistani technicians and engineers are working with TAI on the Turkish 5th-generation aircraft. A country with a failing economy seems likely to have a fifth-generation aircraft earlier than a country that is already the fourth-largest economy.
There is a school of thought that India may be forced to acquire an interim imported fifth-generation aircraft. The choices are few. President Trump announced that they are willing to offer the F-35, but no formal dialogue seems to have begun.
One can recall that they had earlier refused their NATO ally, Turkey, because, like India, they had acquired the S-400 air defence system from Russia.
The S-400 reportedly has sensors that can record the F-35 electronic signature. Also, the USA prefers India to first buy a 4th-generation aircraft in the MRFA competition before the F-35 can even be considered.
Clearly, there is complex geopolitics at play. Indians are also wary about the much greater ability of the USA to arm-twist and even leave a friend in the lurch if its own interests are at variance. The USA may also want India to distance itself from Russia. But India can still use some back-channel consultations to get the USA to sell around two squadrons of F-35.
The second option is to re-join, or acquire, two squadrons of the Su-57 aircraft. The aircraft is fast maturing. Russia has offered to set up production in India and transfer technology. The aircraft has seen combat action in Syria and allegedly in Ukraine as well.
Production is still slow but increasing. But Russia is fighting a war, and its industry is geared more towards that. Because of Western sanctions, there are issues related to payment. The balance of payments has become more adverse due to India’s higher oil imports.
Lastly, IAF already has 60 percent of its fleet of Russian origin and therefore may not increase that basket anymore.
AMCA Must Succeed
As China’s air combat capabilities grow, regional powers such as Japan, South Korea, and India will have to invest more in their advanced fighter aircraft to maintain a credible deterrent against Chinese aggression.
China is not only pulling ahead in aviation technology and capability, but the gap with India is fast becoming unbridgeable in the near future. China will have greater capability to penetrate Indian airspace without being detected.
With the F-35 still not on offer and Russia having less capacity to arm-twist, the Su-57 is the only clear offer.
GCAP is another program likely to succeed. However, all three partners are close allies of the USA and may switch to Boeing F-47 if it is on offer, or will be heavily influenced by US technology.
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If India wants to maintain the AMCA program in the long run, it needs an interim fighter, and the Su-57 may be the better choice.
Undoubtedly, the “Atmanirbharta” (self-reliance) campaign will drive indigenization. For India to be part of the big league, the AMCA must succeed.
The aircraft needs to be developed concurrently with LCA Mk2 and must have a dedicated, separate team. A “whole-of-nation” vision and approach will be required. The private partner must be inducted quickly.
A specially selected CEO may be designated. He must be allowed to form a team. It would be important to spell out clear end-states, timelines, and regular path-line reviews. Adequate funds must be made available. Buy technologies if required. Increase spending on R&D.
The air operations in Operation Sindoor and Ukraine have indicated that in peer group combat, either side would be denied crossing into adversary territory.
It may be worthwhile to quickly build a large inventory of 4.5-generation fighters like LCA Mk2 and Rafale and acquire long-range Air-to-surface missiles (BrahMos II) and longer-range AAMs like Astra III or Russian R-37m.
India’s AMCA program must succeed. Russia has not only offered to develop Su-57 fighters in India at the existing Su-30 MKI facility, it has also pledged to assist with the AMCA program.
India must act fast!
- Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retired) is an Indian Air Force veteran fighter test pilot and ex-director-general of the Center for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. He has been decorated with gallantry and distinguished service medals while serving in the IAF for 40 years.
- He tweets @Chopsyturvey
- Follow EurAsian Times on Google News
