A high-level delegation of French company Safran Group led by its CEO Mr Olivier Andries called on Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh on July 5, 2022. Safran is one of the leading original equipment manufacturers of advanced aircraft engines for civil and fighter jets. During the meeting, the CEO of Safran briefed the Raksha Mantri of their company’s plans to set up a Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India for overhaul of LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines in use by Indian and foreign commercial airlines. The MRO facility through direct foreign investment of $US 150 mn in Hyderabad is expected to create 500-600 highly skilled jobs. The facility will be able to overhaul over 250 engines per year in the beginning.
The CEO also briefed Shri Rajnath Singh of their plan to inaugurate this week Safran Aircraft Engines and Safran Electrical & Power India Pvt Ltd.—both to come up in Hyderabad and Safran-HAL Aircraft Engines as a joint venture in Bengaluru. Safran aircraft engine, Hyderabad, with an investment of Euro 36 mn and located on 10 acres land in the Hyderabad SEZ, will produce parts and components for advanced aircraft engines including rotating seals.
TENDER—NIGHT SIGHTS FOR ARMY’S ASSAULT RIFLES
MoD has issued a tender to procure 29,762 ‘night sights’ for the Indian Army’s 7.62×51 mm assault rifles. As per the tender, 50 per cent of the content in the night sight will have to be Indian.
DRDO CONDUCTS SUCCESSFUL MAIDEN FLIGHT OF AUTONOMOUS FLYING WING TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATOR
Maiden flight of the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator was carried out successfully by DRDO on July 1, 2022. Operating in a fully autonomous mode, the aircraft exhibited a perfect flight, including take-off, way point navigation and a smooth touchdown. This flight marks a major milestone in terms of proving critical technologies towards the development of future unmanned aircraft and is significant step towards self-reliance in such strategic defence technologies.
