Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Safran Aircraft Engines have formalised their collaboration through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at advancing industrial cooperation in the production of ring forgings for commercial engines.

Under this agreement, HAL will manufacture forgings for the LEAP (Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion) engines, which power the Airbus A320 Neo family and Boeing 737 Max.

These engine components will be produced at HAL's Foundry & Forge facility.

The signing of the MoU took place in Bengaluru, with the CEO of HAL's Bangalore Complex, Mihir Kanti Mishra, and the Senior Vice-President of Purchasing at Safran Aircraft Engines, Dominique Dupuy.

Key officials from both organisations were present during the signing ceremony.

"Safran is a long-standing partner, especially on our Helicopter programmes, as evidenced by the joint development of the 'Shakti' helicopter engine. We are also going to codesign and coproduce the next generation IMRH engine with Safran. We are proud to take this partnership to another level, and to develop our skills in key technologies", Chairman & Managing Director, HAL, C B Ananthakrishnan said.

Jean-Paul Alary, CEO, Safran Aircraft Engines stated, "We are delighted to expand our collaboration with HAL, which is already part of the LEAP supply chain through our joint venture in Bengaluru dedicated to the production of aero-engines pipes."