India needs to be agile on self-reliance in aerospace

The unveiling of J-36, a sixth-generation fighter aircraft by China late last year, probably came as a Sputnik moment in its contest for air dominance with the U.S.

- Anil Golani

The unveiling of J-36, a sixth-generation fighter aircraft by China late last year, probably came as a Sputnik moment in its contest for air dominance with the U.S. The race to dominate Artificial Intelligence (AI)—think Deep Seek vs OpenAI—included, the intensification of the frontier-tech contest between the two becomes clear. The J-36, with a tailless delta platform that combines stealth design with an apparently large payload capacity for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, seems ready to be inducted into active service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) while the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) sixth-generation fighter of the United States (US) is nowhere on the horizon. The launch of Sputnik, the world's first space satellite, by the erstwhile Soviet Union, took the U.S. by surprise in 1957, leading to the space race.

While the U.S.-China contest escalates, India should be deeply concerned with the developments across its northern borders as its depleting fighter aircraft inventory is likely to limit its aerospace power, a key element of the national security matrix. The journey towards aatmanirbharta or self-reliance in fighter aircraft design, development and manufacturing has been arduous yet satiating, with the development of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk1 that has entered active service with the Indian Air Force.