After India, UK firm slams NYT report on alleged HAL-Russia link

UK-based aerospace manufacturer HR Smith Group has strongly refuted allegations made in a report by The New York Times (NYT) that it transfered sensitive technology to a Russian arms agency via Indian state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), NDTV has reported.

The firm has called the claims as "entirely false" and "baseless", a day after Indian officials also strongly denied the claims.

The NYT report alleged that HAL had facilitated the transfer of sensitive technology to a Russian weapons supplier, raising concerns over strategic trade violations.

However, Indian government sources told ANI that HAL has always adhered to international obligations regarding strategic trade controls and end-user commitments.

“We have seen a report published by The New York Times. The said report is factually incorrect and misleading. It has tried to frame issues and distort facts to suit a political narrative. The Indian entity mentioned in the report has scrupulously followed all its international obligations on strategic trade controls and end-user commitments," sources said.

They added that India’s robust legal and regulatory framework on strategic trade continues to guide overseas commercial ventures by its companies.

"We expect reputed media outlets to undertake basic due diligence while publishing such reports, which obviously was overlooked in the instant case,” they said, criticizing the NYT report.

According to the report, the Indian company received equipment from HR Smith Group and allegedly supplied parts to Russia with the same identifying product codes.

The report, citing “documents,” claimed that one of the UK’s biggest corporate donors to the populist Reform UK party had sold nearly $2 million worth of transmitters, cockpit equipment, antennas and other sensitive technology to a major supplier of Moscow’s blacklisted state weapons agency between 2023 and 2024.

It pointed to a December 2023 ‘red alert’ issued by the UK government, warning companies about sensitive equipment being redirected to Russia through intermediaries.

The controversy comes amid ongoing Western sanctions on Russian entities following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

US and most European nations have imposed stringent restrictions on Russia but India has maintained a neutral stance, advocating for diplomacy to end the conflict.