According to media reports, Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) is establishing an Advanced Iron Bird Test Facility dedicated to the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) program. This facility is designed as a ground-based system that replicates the aircraft’s subsystems to simulate real-world operational flight conditions.

The Advanced Iron Bird will enable rigorous testing, validation, and integration of critical onboard systems, including flight controls, avionics, and hydraulic mechanisms, on the ground before they are installed in the prototypes.

The facility is slated to become fully operational within 30 months, reflecting ADA’s commitment to accelerate the AMCA’s development schedule while ensuring high standards of system reliability and performance.

The Iron Bird facility is expected to dramatically reduce risks by enabling hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing and providing data on system interactions in a controlled environment. It will host components such as digital flight control computers, auxiliary computers, mission management systems, and hydraulic system simulators with variable speed electric motors to replicate aircraft hydraulic loads.

As the AMCA is India’s flagship indigenous stealth multi-role fifth-generation fighter, the Advanced Iron Bird Facility forms a cornerstone of the prototype development and certification process.

By simulating integrated flight control systems (IFCS) and associated subsystems, the facility supports validation of the jet’s advanced fly-by-wire systems, safety mechanisms, and avionics fusion technologies in tandem. This initiative underscores ADA’s drive toward Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) in aerospace and defence technology.

The upcoming operational readiness of the facility aligns with the AMCA program timeline, which includes prototype rollouts beginning in late 2026 or early 2027, first flight by 2028, and serial production targeted for 2035.

The Iron Bird will enable early detection and rectification of system integration issues, ensuring smoother flight trials and faster development cycles. This infrastructure positions the AMCA program for success as India’s first stealth medium combat aircraft with state-of-the-art sensor, weapon, and control systems.

ADA’s Advanced Iron Bird Test Facility is a critical and sophisticated ground-testing environment that will play a pivotal role in maturing the AMCA’s complex system architecture, reducing developmental risks, and supporting the indigenous fighter’s eventual certification and induction into the Indian Air Force within the planned schedule.​

IDN (With Agency Inputs)