Safran Helicopter Engines and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have signed an agreement for the joint development of the engine designed for the future 13 tonne Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) and its marine version DBMRH (Deck Based Multi-Role Helicopter).

The agreement, which follows the memorandum of understanding signed on July 8, 2022, envisages the sharing of activities within the joint venture, where both parties agree on an equivalent share. In particular, HAL undertakes the design, development and manufacture of some key engine components.

This business sharing agreement was signed by Florent Chauvancy, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Safran Helicopter Engines, and K. Ramesh, General Manager of HAL Aero Engine Research and Design Center.

Franck Saudo, CEO of Safran Helicopter Engines, said: “We are proud to be involved in such an important program of the Ministry of Defense of India and we are delighted to once again support HAL, who has been our partner for many years. This program brings many cutting-edge technologies to the Indian aerospace ecosystem and HAL. It will also provide state-of-the-art solutions to the Indian Armed Forces.”

Safran and HAL will continue to work on the development of this joint venture, which aims to develop engines not only for IMRH but also for other helicopters in the coming months.

The two partners also agreed to transfer the production rights to seven critical forging and casting blanks to HAL to further increase the indigenous content in the Shakti engine of the Dhruv and Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) programs.