Paris: Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Argentina’s Fabrica Argentina de Aviones (FAdeA) inked an MoU towards exploring the possibilities of collaboration in the field of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). The agreement will also involve meeting any offset requirements in case of probable sale of HAL-made platforms in Latin American region.
The pact was inked during the ongoing Paris Air Show 2023, Bangalore-headquartered state-run company HAL said in a statement. The collaboration in the aerospace sector comes at a time when the Indian firm is in talks with the South American country to export the indigenously-built light combat aircraft (LCA) amid India’s push to gain a toehold in foreign defence markets.
Similar to HAL, FAdeA is an Argentinian state-owned aerospace company under the administrative supervision of the South American country’s Ministry of Defence involved in design, manufacture and maintenance of civil and military aircraft, it was noted.
It may be noted that rules governing defence acquisition in different countries lay down that in all high-value capital purchases, it is mandatory for foreign vendors to invest a certain percentage of the value of the purchase in that country to boost its indigenous capabilities. India’s offset policy, for instance, seeks to leverage capital acquisitions to develop the domestic defence industry by making it mandatory for foreign military contractors to invest in the country at least 30% of the value of all contracts worth more than Rs 300 crore.
Argentina has projected a requirement for 15 new fighter aircraft, and HAL believes that the LCA Mk-1A will meet that country’s needs, the officials said. Teams from the Argentine Air Force have visited HAL and flown the LCA, they said. To be sure, the JF-17 fighter aircraft, jointly developed by China and Pakistan, is also a contender for the Argentine order.
India military exports have risen sharply, and imports have recorded a drop on the back of policy initiatives and reforms during the past nine years. India has set a defence export target of Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25. In November 2022, Indian defence firm Kalyani Strategic Systems Limited won an export order worth $155.5 million for supplying artillery guns to a friendly foreign country (believed to be Armenia), the first order won by a local company for the 155mm weapon system. That order came on the back of the Philippines ordering BRAHMOS missiles and Armenia choosing to buy Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers from India.
