India's HAL to venture into repair of American drone engines, develop new helicopter engine with France's Safran

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

India's Government-run defence and aerospace firm, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), will soon be performing maintenance and repairs on the engines of the American-origin MQ-9B drones, which are in use by the Indian Navy. HAL will also be working with French firm Safran on the joint development of engines intended for the 13-ton class Indian helicopter, which will be known as the Indian multi-role helicopter (IMRH).

HAL also announced that it received ITSO (Indian Technical Standard Order) authorisation from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for its indigenously developed Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR), commonly known as the 'Black box' (an orange-coloured box that records crucial flight data, that can help trace the cause, in case of an aviation accident). The Bengaluru-based firm revealed this during the five-day Aero India event that is underway at the Yelahanka Air Force Station, Bangalore.

The General Atomics MQ-9B High-altitude Long endurance (HALE) drones are currently in use by the Indian Navy for Maritime Surveillance requirements. While the Indian Navy uses drones that are leased from General Atomics, there are proposals to purchase 30 MQ-9B drones, 10 each for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The Maintenance, repair, and overhaul of these drone engines at the HAL Engine division in Bangalore gains significance, given that talks are on for purchasing these drones for India's strategic use.

“HAL has been manufacturing and providing MRO support for TPE 331-5 engines for the last 40 years. We are also establishing facilities for manufacturing TPE 331-12B engines for HTT-40 (Hindustan Turbo trainer) project. The engine used on the MQ-9B Remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) belongs to the same family of engines with upgraded configuration to adapt to the RPAS technology," said CB Ananthakrishnan, Chairman and Managing Director, HAL.

For the 13-ton class of helicopter known as the Indian multi-role helicopter and a naval version of the same, known as Deck-based multi-role helicopter (DBMRH), France's Safran Helicopter Engines and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) have signed a workshare agreement for the jointly developing the engine. As part of this, HAL will take part in the design, development, and production of some of the core engine components, which is a breakthrough achievement in terms of expertise and know-how in the country. As the helicopter is being developed, HAL is also continuing discussions with the Indian Armed Forces for the operational requirements of the same.

“The joint development of a high-power engine is a new milestone in HALs ever-growing capabilities in the sector with a competent partner like Safran Helicopter Engines. We are confident of making the engine meet the highly stringent and demanding requirements of Indian Defence customers,” said Ananthakrishnan.

Franck Saudo, who is the CEO of Safran Helicopter Engines, commented, “We are very proud to be associated with such an important program of HAL and very happy to once again support HAL, our partner for decades. While this program will bring many advanced technologies to the Indian aerospace ecosystem and to HAL, it will also provide the Indian Armed Forces with state-of-the-art solutions”.

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