A FORCE Report

Chennai: In what would silence the critics of the Strategic Partnership model envisioned in the Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) 2016, India seems to have made the maiden breakthrough. Three major giants in their own rights — Boeing as the proven world-class integrator of technologies, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) as India’s premier aerospace company and Mahindra Defence, whose footprints are discernible in aircraft flown in 31 countries — joined hands today to manufacture the next generation Super Hornet (F/A-18 E/F Block III) under the ‘Make in India’ policy.

According to the Chairman HAL, T. Suvarna Raju, “Boeing will supply the technology, which would be digested by HAL by providing its design expertise, facilities and services, and Mahindra Defence would contribute with its manufacturing expertise.” President Boeing India, Pratyush Kumar en