Hindustan Aeronautics, a major trading partner of a Russian arms agency, insists sensitive British components stayed in India.

An Indian defense company has denied reselling sensitive British technology to Russia, following a report that raised concerns about the end use of exported equipment originally supplied by a major corporate donor to the populist Reform U.K. party.

In March, The New York Times reported that, according to 2023 and 2024 shipping records, British aerospace manufacturer H.R. Smith Group had exported antennas, cockpit equipment, and transmitters to India—items that had been flagged as critical to Russian military systems.

The recipient of those exports, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), is India’s premier state-owned defense firm and the largest trading partner of Russia’s arms export agency, Rosoboronexport.

While HAL did not initially respond to repeated requests for comment, a lawyer for H.R. Smith later provided The Times with a statement from HAL asserting that the British-made equipment had not been transferred to Russia. The statement was issued roughly a week after the article was published and gained traction in Indian media.

That claim is in line with the account from H.R. Smith, which said its exports were lawful and intended for India’s domestic use. The equipment “supports lifesaving operations” and is “not designed for military use,” said Nick Watson, a lawyer representing the company. According to HAL’s statement, the parts were used in Indian-operated helicopters, specifically as part of the country’s search-and-rescue network.

However, shipping records reviewed by The Times showed that in some cases, HAL shipped parts to Russia within days of receiving similar items from H.R. Smith—using identical product codes. These codes relate to categories of equipment such as radar components but can apply to a wide range of items. H.R. Smith argued that these codes alone are insufficient to prove that its specific products were re-exported.

The controversy has also drawn attention in the U.K. due to H.R. Smith’s political ties. The company donated £100,000 (just under $130,000) to Reform U.K. last year—just two days after Nigel Farage was announced as the party’s leader. H.R. Smith is led by Richard Smith, a businessman who owns 55 Tufton Street, a central London address associated with several influential right-wing think tanks and lobbying groups.

While both the United Kingdom and the United States have banned the export of defense-related goods to Rosoboronexport, India has not adopted such restrictions. British firms are legally allowed to sell to Indian defense companies, though Western governments have urged exporters to exercise due diligence to prevent backdoor transfers to sanctioned Russian entities.

HAL is publicly known as a supplier to Russia’s military but is not subject to financial sanctions, meaning British companies can legally conduct business with it.

When contacted by phone in March, Farage distanced himself from the issue, saying he had “never approved of anything Putin has done” but declined to comment specifically on H.R. Smith’s transactions. A Reform U.K. spokesperson defended the donation, calling it lawful.

“Such woeful attempts to smear Reform will not work,” the spokesperson said.