New Delhi: India’s fifth-generation stealth fighter programme, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), is making progress through key pre-prototype engineering activities, with the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) initiating procurement for electrical harness design services and advanced computing infrastructure.
Two recent tenders issued through the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) indicate that preparatory work is progressing in areas essential to finalising the aircraft’s detailed engineering design and simulation capabilities.
Electrical Harness Design for AMCA
Under tender reference GEM/2026/B/8164482, issued on October 15, 2026, the ADA has invited bids for consultancy services related to the design of the AMCA’s electrical harness system and preparation of associated engineering drawings.
The contract, valued as a two-year consultancy assignment, carries an Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) requirement of Rs 10 lakh. The bidding period concluded recently, with bids scheduled to open on November 6, 2026.
The electrical harness is a critical component of a modern fighter aircraft. It connects and distributes power and data across various onboard systems, including flight controls, radar, electronic warfare equipment and cockpit avionics.
For a fifth-generation stealth aircraft such as the AMCA, the design requires careful planning to manage weight, optimise cable routing and maintain electromagnetic compatibility. The latter is essential to prevent interference between sensitive electronic systems.
Finalising the electrical harness architecture will help establish the internal wiring layout and equipment integration requirements before the aircraft’s physical configuration is frozen for prototype development.
ADA Plans Major Computing Infrastructure Upgrade
In a parallel initiative, the ADA has floated another tender, GEM/2026/B/8152801, for the procurement of 431 advanced computing units along with associated network infrastructure.
The original bid submission deadline was scheduled for early November, but a subsequent corrigendum extended the deadline to November 19, 2026.
The proposed acquisition is intended to strengthen the agency’s computing capabilities for complex aerospace design and development activities.
The development of a stealth fighter involves extensive computational work, including aerodynamic modelling, structural analysis, radar cross-section assessment and flight simulations. These activities require significant processing capacity to evaluate design configurations and test performance under different operating conditions.
The upgraded computing infrastructure is expected to support ADA engineers and scientists in conducting high-fidelity simulations and improving the accuracy of digital design assessments before physical prototypes are built.
Private Sector Participation in Prototype Manufacturing
The latest procurement activities form part of the broader engineering preparation for the AMCA programme. They do not, by themselves, indicate the immediate start of prototype manufacturing, but address technical requirements that need to be completed before that stage.
Meanwhile, major Indian defence manufacturers, including Tata Advanced Systems, Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Forge, have been competing for the approximately Rs 15,000 crore contract associated with prototype manufacturing.
The development of electrical architecture and expansion of simulation infrastructure are expected to help establish a more mature engineering framework for the programme. This would provide the selected manufacturing partners with detailed design inputs for translating the aircraft’s specifications into physical prototypes.
As India advances its fifth-generation fighter development effort, the completion of these pre-prototype engineering activities will remain an important part of preparing the AMCA for its eventual maiden flight.
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