Bengaluru, June 24: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Monday delivered the 150th gun bay door for the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, manufactured at its facility in Bengaluru. Boeing awarded HAL the contract to manufacture gun bay doors for the Super Hornet in 2007. HAL has been Boeing's long-term supplier in India for over 25 years. Rafale Deal Controversy: HAL Capable of Manufacturing Fighter Jets, Says Chairman R Madhavan.

"This delivery of the 150th gun bay door for the Super Hornet demonstrates that Indian suppliers are an integral part of Boeing's global supply chain," said Boeing India's President Salil Gupte. Meanwhile, HAL’s Chairman and Managing Director R Madhavan thanked Boeing for showing commitment to ‘Make in India’ programme. The gun bay door contract is the first military contract between Boeing and HAL. In 2010, the Indian public sector unit delivered the first gun bay door to Boeing.

Boeing has offered to build a 21st-century aerospace ecosystem in India for manufacturing the F/A-18 Super Hornet with Indian partners, HAL and Mahindra Defence Systems (MDS). Boeing's sourcing from India now stands at one billion dollars with over 160 existing industrial partners.

Boeing is also among the six global aircraft manufactures which responded to a Request for Information (RFI) for supplying 110 fighter jets to the Indian Air Force (IAF). During the DefExpo 2018, Boeing had signed a deal with HAL and domestic company Mahindra Defence Systems to manufacture Super Hornet F/A 18 in India. The Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet is a twin-engine supersonic all-weather, carrier-capable multirole combat jet delivering cutting-edge, next-generation multi-role strike fighter capability.

(With inputs from ANI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 24, 2019 02:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).