The F18SH is also a medium class fighter, but comes at an emptyweight of close to 14t, while the Rafale is 4-5t lighter, which obviously makes a difference for the thrust requirement. Stealth fighters will be even heavier, since they are designed to carry all the fuel and much of the weapon load internally. The F35 comes around 13t empty and has a thrust of 125kN dry / 190kN wet, but is considered as bad in flight performance. AMCA must perform much better and is required with Supercuise capability too, but might be designed smaller and lighter. Upgraded M88s with around 60 / 90kN might fit better than the current once, but then you also have the GE 414 that you produce soon in India under licence anyway with 62 / 98kN or the EJ200 with 60 / 90kN (if we want even with 3D TVC).
DRDO is quite confidant on avionics front as they had worked too many projects in past.
DRDO is not developing most of the avionics, maybe that's why. Their core projects, radar and engine are in big trouble and only DARE makes them look at least somekind of useful.
There is no AMCA for IN. HOW CAN you built a a/c for a customer who even doesn't decide that how his carrier should be. Don't forget it is IAF who put ASR to ADA. What IN did is shown " interest" only.
DRDO already have claimed to develop a naval varient, of the AMCA that they want to develop for IAF, which is the same mistake they did with LCA and N-LCA. IN showed interest of course, but they also slamed DRDO for going the wrong way again.
And no IAF did not put ASR to ADA, it was DRDO who started the AMCA as their own concept and proposed it to IAF and the MoD, which then required the ASR from the customer and freeing fundings of the MoD. IAF provided the ASRs, but we now have the 2nd Air Chief in a row who basically says, they don't need AMCA and don't care much about it.
Also, you can develop a carrier fighter without knowing if IAC 2 will get catapults or not, simply by developing it for the catapult launch from the start but with a good TWR and thrust. If the catapults won't come, you only need minor changes (mainly less strengthenings => weight reductions) to use it via ski-jump take off. The aressted landing, the main design, the avionics or weapons will be the same anyway, so that is not an issue either.
You can see too many subsytems for AMCA is already developed.
Subsystems, but not the core parts! Kaveri failed, is of no use for LCA now and even less for an AMCA at the moment. Radar is still not ready and the AESA is a long shot, but actually the only hope for DRDO to provide something meaningful to AMCA.
LCA suffers from design issues caused by the limited experience in ADA, but without them being part of the FGFA project, it's no use to let them design AMCA. So if you want to benefit from FGFA, HAL would not only need to be the designer of AMCA, based on their participation and experience in the FGFA project, but also to be the main develop, which neither ADA nor DRDO will allow.
So what's the use of having subsystems, when you lack behind in all core areas and continue to give the the project to the wrong PSUs?
No sirs please ...... afterall information is from wiki not mine ....
But helping others to find the right answers is the right thing to do (especially for senior / elite members), even if you only point to the right direction. Keep it up!