Safran, Hindustan ink deal to develop helicopter engines

WASHINGTON ― French company Safran and Indian firm Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. are creating a joint venture to develop helicopter engines in the Asian nation, Safran announced Friday.

The partnership is expected to focus on powering India’s 13-ton multirole helicopter in the making, further promoting the country’s economic initiative Atmanirbhar Bharat, meant to boost self-reliance for domestic industry, the news release said.

“The creation of this new joint venture marks a turning point in our relationship with HAL and the Indian [Ministry of Defence] with the development and production of a new generation of helicopter engine,” said Franck Saudo, the CEO of Safran Helicopter Engines. “With a fleet of over 1,000 engines, India’s Armed Forces are one of the largest operators of Safran-designed helicopter engines.”

The two companies have worked together for more than 50 years, previously partnering on helicopter engines such as the Shakti and Ardiden 1U variants.

Hindustan’s chief managing director, R. Madhavan, said he looks forward to the development of the multirole helicopter and its naval variant.

In March, the two companies broke ground in Sattari for a new facility under their Helicopter Engines MRO Private Ltd. joint venture to provide maintenance, repair and overhaul services for TM333 and Shakti engines for India’s military.

The facility is expected to be operational by the end of 2023.

Zamone “Z” Perez is a reporter at Military Times. He previously worked at Foreign Policy and Ufahamu Africa. He is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he researched international ethics and atrocity prevention in his thesis. He can be found on Twitter @zamoneperez.

华盛顿——法国赛峰公司周五宣布，该公司将与印度斯坦航空有限公司成立一家合资企业，在印度开发直升机发动机。

新闻稿称，此次合作预计将重点为印度正在研制的13吨级多用途直升机提供动力，进一步推动印度旨在增强国内工业自力更生的经济倡议“自力更生印度”（Atmanirbhar Bharat）。

“这家新合资企业的成立标志着我们与印度斯坦航空有限公司（HAL）和印度国防部关系的一个转折点，我们将共同研发和生产新一代直升机发动机，”赛峰直升机发动机公司首席执行官弗兰克·索多表示。“印度武装部队拥有超过1000台发动机，是赛峰设计直升机发动机的最大用户之一。”

这两家公司已经合作超过 50 年，此前曾合作开发过 Shakti 和 Ardiden 1U 等型号的直升机发动机。

印度斯坦公司首席总经理R·马达万表示，他期待多用途直升机及其海军型的研发。

今年 3 月，这两家公司在萨塔里破土动工，为其合资成立的直升机发动机 MRO 私人有限公司的新工厂建设新设施，该工厂将为印度军方提供 TM333 和 Shakti 发动机的维护、修理和大修服务。

该设施预计将于 2023 年底投入运营。

扎莫内·“Z”·佩雷斯是《军事时报》的记者。他曾就职于《外交政策》和《乌法哈姆非洲》。他毕业于西北大学，毕业论文研究国际伦理和暴行预防。他的推特账号是@zamoneperez。