AMCA Engine Race Heats Up: Rolls-Royce Offers India 100% ToT, Full IP Rights

British engine maker Rolls-Royce has offered India full technology transfer and complete intellectual property rights for a new engine it wants to co-develop for India’s fifth-generation advanced medium combat aircraft (AMCA). The offer is meant to give the AMCA a sovereign propulsion system - built, owned and controlled entirely in India.

Sources in the British government confirmed that the core technology on offer is under an inter-governmental agreement and carries no restrictions under the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). It is a regime that has historically complicated American willingness to share sensitive engine technology with foreign partners.

India has been struggling for decades to secure genuine technology transfer from Western suppliers for its indigenous fighter programmes, including the Tejas LCA and its successors, the Tejas-Mk1A and Tejas-Mk2.

New Delhi is pushing for “deep” technology transfer, extending to the single-crystal turbine blade – a component that withstands extreme heat without deforming, allowing an engine to generate greater thrust without failing under sustained high temperatures.

Mastery of single-crystal blade manufacturing has long eluded India’s state-run Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE). 

The proposed engine would generate over 120 kilo newtons (kn) of thrust, with the design allowing for an upgrade path to 145 kilo newtons, sources added.

No fighter engine of that power class has yet entered service anywhere in the world; even the Pratt & Whitney F135, which powers the American F-35 Lightning II, tops out below that mark in most configurations.

The disclosure follows an announcement on August 14 that Rolls-Royce and Reliance Industries Limited had agreed to jointly develop an indigenous combat engine for the AMCA.

Rolls-Royce is competing for the contract against French engine manufacturer Safran, which has partnered with the GTRE, under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

British officials also stated that Rolls-Royce was aiming to roll out the new engine by 2034.

The engine contest runs alongside the broader AMCA programme. It is moving towards prototype development now.

What you need to know about AMCA programme

The Ministry of Defence has invited three bidders to submit technical and commercial proposals: Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, competing independently; a consortium of Larsen & Toubro, state-owned Bharat Electronics Ltd and Dynamatic Technologies Ltd; and a separate consortium comprising Bharat Forge, state-run BEML and Data Patterns.

None of the three is an engine manufacturer. This is why the propulsion contract is being negotiated separately.

The winning bidder will work with the Aeronautical Development Agency, under the DRDO, to build five flying prototypes and one structural test airframe. 

The AMCA, once operational, is intended to give the Indian Air Force its first indigenously developed stealth fighter, placing India in a select group of nations – alongside the United States, China and Russia – pursuing fifth-generation combat aircraft with domestically sourced propulsion.