“In the future, India and France will extend their ground-breaking defence cooperation in advanced aeronautical technologies by supporting the joint development of a combat aircraft engine,” the roadmap document issued as part of the visit stated.
Safran has been in talks with India to jointly develop a new 110 kilonewton powered engine for next generation advanced multiple combat aircraft since 2016, as part of the offsets contract for the Rafale fighter jet purchase by the Indian Air Force. However, talks had hit a road bump over technical talks, with Safran and DRDO finding it difficult to come to an agreement on how to develop a sufficiently powered engine.
In the meantime, USA emerged as the frontrunner for the Indian fighter jet engine requirement, with GE bagging a deal to manufacture its F 414 engines in India as part of the Tejas Mk 2 program. The deal have an edge to GE for offering technology to develop a higher powered 110 kn engine.
India has a requirement of several hundred fighter jet engines to power not just the AMCA but other future aircraft like aircraft carrier-based fighters.
Beyond fighter jets, France will be the key technology partner for India when it comes to military Helicopter engines as well. In the cooperation roadmap, the two sides have mentioned support for industrial cooperation for motorization of heavy-lift helicopters under the Indian Multi Role Helicopter [IMRH] programme with Safran.
