After the humiliating defeat at the hands of Pakistan, India has announced its fifth-generation stealth jet production program to overcome political and public pressure. Although the on-record facts are that India had started this program five years ago in 2020. And according to the official announcement at that time, the design of the aircraft had also been finalized. It is on record that in April 2023, the Indian Defense and Research Center had requested the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to release funds for the program at an initial estimated cost of about 150 billion Indian rupees.
In 2023, Dr. Sameer V. Kamat, the head of this Indian organization, said that the first prototype of the aircraft could make its first test flight at least seven years after CCS approval. And it is likely to join the Indian Air Force at least ten years after its test flight.
In an interview with India Today in the same year, former Indian Air Force Chief Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria also confirmed that after four years of timely provision of funds, after test flights and complete preparation of the aircraft, it will take another ten years, i.e. a total of fourteen years, to become operational in the Indian Air Force.
Therefore, these facts prove that there is no possibility of India’s fifth-generation stealth fighter joining the Indian Air Force before 2040.
It is noteworthy that India’s fourth generation Tejas, which claims to be the fifth generation stealth fighter, has become a nightmare in every respect. Nothing has been proven about its combat capabilities. In fact, the success of the working combination of American engines, Israeli radars and avionics parts from different countries in Tejas has not been proven.
Due to these reservations, Tejas has proven to be a flop in the global market. In fact, the Indian Navy itself refused to use the naval version of Tejas fighter jets.
To assess the chances of the fifth-generation stealth aircraft production program being successful, it is worth considering India’s tainted and incompetent history of arms manufacturing. Renowned Indian journalist Rahul Bedi and defense commentator Ghazala Wahab write that India made an INSAS rifle after 20 years of operations but it turned out to be a total flop. Therefore, the Indian army completely rejected it with complaints of several technical defects. Later, this rifle was bought by Nepal and returned with a medal of not wanted. Then nine years later, in 2019, Narendra Modi inaugurated a new assault rifle factory with Russian participation in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. But due to the non-fulfillment of the agreement with Russia, that factory is still closed.
For those who are trying to build a fifth-generation stealth fighter, the fact that in 2009, the South American country of Ecuador purchased eight Indian-made Dhruv helicopters is a huge blow. But unfortunately, four of these self-crash masters, manufactured by India, crashed. After which the remaining four contracts were cancelled and sent back to India.
According to neutral defense observers, India, which has failed to produce anything from a simple rifle to a helicopter and Tejas, is now announcing the Fifth Generation Stealth Fighter Production Program, the biggest joke of this century. And the statement of the current Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, also reflects the exact facts that the lack of funding as well as shortage of qualified and competent staff in the Indian Air Force is extremely harmful.
And Pakistan is proud that more than 150 intelligent aeronautical engineers and capable technical experts from Pakistan are a regular part of the professional team building Turkey’s fifth-generation stealth fighter.
According to international observers, Pakistan will be ten years ahead of India after acquiring the fifth-generation stealth J-35. And possibly before the fifth-generation aircraft are inducted into the Indian Air Force in 2040, Pakistan’s JF-17 Thunder program will have entered the fifth-generation stealth version. And certainly, the Chinese-made sixth-generation super-stealth J-36 aircraft will have become part of the Pakistan Air Force, leaving India 15 years behind.
BY: Farooq Rashid Butt
Pakistan destroyed not 6 but more than 21 Indian jets and AWACS
