India partners with France’s Safran to build fighter jet engines domestically

In a significant strategic development, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today announced that India would partner with French engine maker Safran to make jet engines domestically.

These engines are to be used to power the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), a fifth-generation fighter jet, being designed and made indigenously.

The Minister was speaking at an event hosted by a media house where he said, “We have taken steps towards making fifth generation fighter aircraft. We have also moved towards making aircraft engines in India. We are now going to start engine manufacturing work in India with French company Safran.”

Sources said the French offer consists of a new engine with supply chain and manufacturing at an Indian location. The India-France plan is to make a new engine that is aimed to be more powerful than anything being used anywhere in the world, for now. A roadmap for the project has been prepared by Safran and the DRDO. Since the development of a new engine is a decade long process, the new engine — that is expected to have a 110 Kilo Newton thrust — is expected to power the second version of AMCA.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had last year okayed the proposal to design and manufacture India’s indigenous fifth generation fighter aircraft — the AMCA. The Rs 15,000-crore project is for the design and prototype development of the aircraft that will eventually have two variants with different thrust of engines.

The Mark 1 version is expected to be powered by a 98 Kilo Newton engine. The second upgraded version will be powered by a 110 Kilo Newton engine, which will be developed by Safran in India.

The French company is also the maker of the M-88 engines, which are used by Rafale fighter jets. The Indian Air Force has a fleet of 36 Rafales while the Indian Navy has ordered 26 planes, the marine version of the same jet.

Safran and public sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited have an existing partnership to make engines for the advanced light helicopters in India — some 400 such copters are already flying. The two companies also have a JV for the new engine to be fitted in the under-development 13-tonne Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH), which India is designing and plans to produce. It is expected to replace the Russian Mi-17 helicopters in the Indian Air Force fleet. Its naval variant, Deck-Based Multi-Role Helicopter (DBMRH), has been planned too and is being designed simultaneously. The IMRH is expected to be launched in 2027.