Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), a company under US, UK and EU sanctions, for the joint production of the SJ-100 civil commuter aircraft.
"This will also be the first instance wherein a complete passenger aircraft will be produced in India. The last such project was HAL's production of AVRO HS748, which started in 1961 and ended in 1988," HAL said in a statement.
The SJ-100 is a twin-engine, narrow-body aircraft, and is in the fleet of around 16 commercial airlines. HAL said that SJ-100 will be the game changer for short-haul connectivity. Under this arrangement, HAL will have the rights to manufacture SJ-100 aircraft for domestic customers.
Russia’s public joint stock company UAC is under US, European Union, and British sanctions. The US treasury has called the firm a key enterprise in Russia's military-industrial complex.
India has said it does not subscribe to unilateral sanctions and has criticised the targeting of its ties with Moscow as unjustified and unfair, while accusing the West of double standards because the EU and the US still buy Russian goods worth billions of dollars.
"This collaboration between HAL and UAC is the result of mutual trust between the organisations," HAL said in a statement. "It's a step towards fulfilling the dream of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' (self-reliant India) in the civil aviation sector."
Picture from X/@HALHQBLR
HAL has long partnered with the UAC, mainly by building under licence the Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet for the Indian Air Force.
The collaboration is also expected to address India's growing regional aviation demand. Estimates suggest that over the next decade, the country will require more than 200 jets in this category to support regional connectivity and an additional 350 aircraft for the Indian Ocean region to serve nearby international tourist destinations.
The agreement with United Aircraft Corporation marks a step towards producing a passenger aircraft in India for the first time, but risks stoking tensions with Western countries trying to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
