Safran to set up MRO for Rafale fighter jet engines in Hyderabad by 2026 end

HYDERABAD: French aerospace giant Safran is setting up a new entity -- Safran Aircraft Engine Services India -- for the maintenance and overhaul of the Rafale fighter jet's M88 engines.

This was announced by Telangana IT & industries minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu after a meeting with Safran’s general manager Pierre Fernandez as part of a round table meeting with a delegation from the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IFCCI).

The proposed MRO will create around 150 new jobs by the end of 2026 and will have the potential to generate another 750 jobs in subsequent phases, the minister said on Tuesday.

The announcement for the establishment of the Rafale engines MRO comes just days after Rafale’s manufacturer Dassault Aviation signed four production transfer agreements with Tata Advanced Systems Ltd (TASL) for manufacturing the entire fuselage for the fighter jet, marking the first time these components will be produced outside France.

The key sections such as the lateral shells of the rear fuselage, the complete rear section, the central fuselage, and the front section of the Rafale will be manufactured in Hyderabad with the facility expected to begin churning out these parts in the financial year 2027-28.

Safran already has two manufacturing facilities in Hyderabad -- Safran Aircraft Engines and Safran Electrical & Power. While Safran Aircraft Engines makes rotating turbine seals for the LEAP engine, Safran Electrical & Power makes electrical harnesses for the LEAP engine, Rafale jets as well as Falcon 10X and Fadec.

The addition of the Rafale engine MRO to these existing facilities will make Hyderabad a central hub for production and exports of critical components for the Rafale engines and play a key role in strengthening its position as a global aerospace ecosystem, Sridhar Babu said.