India’s long-standing quest for self-reliance in aerospace propulsion has achieved a major breakthrough. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and French aerospace giant Safran S.A. have formalized a landmark collaboration for the co-development and co-production of a powerful 120-kilonewton (kN) jet engine to power India’s next-generation fighter aircraft.

The project, estimated to be one of India’s largest defense acquisitions at approximately $7 billion (₹61,000 Crore), marks a pivotal moment for the nation’s indigenous defense capabilities.

The new afterburning turbofan engine, which is scalable to 140kN, is primarily intended to power the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) Mk2, India’s indigenous fifth-generation stealth fighter. It will also be used on the Indian Navy’s Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF).

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh confirmed the impending deal, stating, “We have taken steps forward to build our fifth-generation fighter aircraft. We are about to start engine manufacturing work in India itself with the French company Safran.”

A crucial and transformative element of the agreement is Safran’s commitment to providing 100% Technology Transfer (ToT) to India. This includes access to some of the most sensitive and closely guarded technologies in the aerospace industry, such as:

• Single-Crystal Turbine Blades: Advanced components made from super-alloys that withstand extreme temperatures and stress, dramatically improving engine performance and longevity.
• Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) systems.
• High-pressure hot-section technologies.

India’s Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE), the DRDO lab leading the effort, will work alongside Safran to design and produce nine prototype engines over a planned 12-year development cycle. Critically, India will retain the complete Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for the engine, ensuring full operational autonomy and the ability to upgrade and service the engine without foreign dependency.

The successful development and production of this high-thrust engine will place India in an exclusive club of nations—including the US, Russia, the UK, and France—that possess the capability to design and manufacture advanced fighter jet engines.

While the initial AMCA prototypes will use US-made GE F414 engines, the new Safran-DRDO engine will be the long-term, sovereign propulsion solution, fulfilling the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India) vision in the strategically vital defense sector.

The project not only promises to secure India’s air power for decades but also aims to build a robust domestic aerospace ecosystem with significant participation from the private sector, including major groups like Tata, L&T, and Adani Defence.