NEW DELHI: India has begun efforts to join France’s sixth-generation fighter programme, choosing the French-led Future Combat Air System (FCAS) over the rival British-Italian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) as it seeks a foothold in next-generation combat aviation.
It had then told the committee that the Indian Air Force was looking to join one of the two competing sixth-generation fighter programmes.
The other option was GCAP, under which Britain, Italy and Japan are developing a next-generation combat aircraft, known as Tempest.
The move comes as major military powers race to develop combat aircraft designed around stealth, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced sensors, electronic warfare and manned-unmanned teaming.
Unlike conventional fighter programmes, sixth-generation systems are being developed as a “system of systems”, with the crewed fighter expected to operate alongside unmanned aircraft, remote carriers and other networked assets while receiving and sharing data across the battlespace.
NEW DELHI: India has begun efforts to join France’s sixth-generation fighter programme, choosing the French-led Future Combat Air System (FCAS) over the rival British-Italian-Japanese Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) as it seeks a foothold in next-generation combat aviation.
In its Action Taken submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, the Defence Ministry said it had “initiated efforts in a concerted manner to co-join” FCAS, a programme spearheaded by the French government.
The disclosure, contained in the committee’s Twenty-Fifth Report for 2025-26 tabled in the Lok Sabha on Friday, provides clarity on a choice the ministry had left open in March. It had then told the committee that the Indian Air Force was looking to join one of the two competing sixth-generation fighter programmes.
The other option was GCAP, under which Britain, Italy and Japan are developing a next-generation combat aircraft, known as Tempest.
The move comes as major military powers race to develop combat aircraft designed around stealth, artificial intelligence (AI), advanced sensors, electronic warfare and manned-unmanned teaming.
Unlike conventional fighter programmes, sixth-generation systems are being developed as a “system of systems”, with the crewed fighter expected to operate alongside unmanned aircraft, remote carriers and other networked assets while receiving and sharing data across the battlespace.
The technology has growing relevance for India as China expands its air-combat capabilities. The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) operates the J-20 and J-35 stealth fighter and is developing a wider ecosystem involving unmanned systems, long-range weapons, airborne sensors and electronic warfare capabilities. The country has also flown two prototypes of its sixth gen fighters.
