Safran Power Units to double Texas plant on booming demand for small turbojets
Additional capacity will come on stream in 2028 to support production of TR40 engine for Naval Strike Missile.
Safran Power Units is to double the capacity of its Grand Prairie, Texas plant in response to booming demand for small turbojet engines to power missiles and drones.
Products to be assembled at the site include the TR40 engine family for the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile which is being acquired by the US Navy which designates it the RGM-184.
Safran says the additional capacity at Grand Prairie will come on stream in 2028. It has not disclosed the size of the investment in the plant.
“Demand for our TR40 turbojet engine family has quadrupled in recent years and we see significant opportunities for future applications,” says Olivier Andries, Safran chief executive.
“By launching a new assembly line at our Texas site, we are meeting the accelerating demand of our strategic customers.”
Based in Texas since 1989, Safran Power Units already provides locally assembled engines for Kratos BQM-167 and BQM-177 aerial targets.
Separately, Safran Corporate Ventures, the French firm’s venture capital arm, has acquired a minority stake in engineering specialist Akira for an undisclosed sum as part of the company’s latest funding round.
Founded in 2003 as a specialist automotive engineering business, including the development of test benches, Akira later branched out into the aerospace industry.
Located in Bayonne and Bergerac, France, it specialises in the design, prototyping and testing of high-performance propulsion systems and rotating machinery, including turbomachinery, piston engines, electric machines, transmissions, and pumps.
Akira is already working with several Safran divisions, including its aircraft and helicopter engine units, on research and technology programmes including the RISE open-fan engine demonstrator being developed as part of the CFM International joint venture with GE Aerospace. Other projects include those related to hybridisation and hydrogen combustion.
Safran joins existing Akira investors MBDA and Definvest, an investment fund established by the France’s DGA defence procurement agency.
The latest funding round will enable Akira to transition toward small- and medium-batch production, Safran says.
Priority areas include scaling up Akira’s activities in the drone propulsion and microturbine segments for defence applications, alongside expansion of its production and test facilities.
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