HAL delivers 150th gun bay door for F/A-18 Super Hornet

State-owned aviation major, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has delivered the 150th gun bay door for the Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, a twin-engine supersonic jet aircraft. The doors are being manufactured at HAL's facility in Bengaluru.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet is an all-weather, carrier-capable multirole combat jet. Boeing's long-term supplier in India for over 25 years, HAL was awarded the contract to manufacture the gun bay doors in 2007.

Boeing India president, Salil Gupte said the delivery of the 150th gun bay door is a demonstration that Indian suppliers are an integral part of Boeing’s global supply chain.

“Our investments in India are robust and ongoing, spanning technology, hi-tech innovation, production capacity, establishing a supply chain network, and developing skilling centers for aerospace manufacturing in India,” Gupte said.

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).

This production, according to a Boeing statement, will create thousands of jobs and hundreds of suppliers in India, similar to the largest Boeing aerospace ecosystem that exists in the U.S.

Boeing’s sourcing from India now stands at $1 billion. Currently, the company's supply chain has 160 partners in India, and a Joint Venture to manufacture fuselages for Apache helicopters. It employs 3,000 people in the country.