Military Watch Magazine

India’s Largest Aviation Firm Excluded From Key Next Stage of Country’s First Fighter Program

The Indian state-owned aviation firm Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has been excluded from the competition to build prototypes of the country’s Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) stealth fighter after failing to meet technical requirements, India’s Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has confirmed. Singh said HAL “didn’t qualify on some fairly routine technical grounds which they somehow failed to meet,” although he did not disclose the specific requirements in question. The decision represents the first time that HAL has been excluded from an indigenous Indian fighter program.