India is on the cusp of launching its most ambitious aerospace program yet, with the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Gas Turbine Research Establishment (GTRE) partnering with France’s Safran Group to co-develop an indigenous high-thrust fighter jet engine under full Indian Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The planned engine, producing an initial thrust of 120 kilo-Newtons (KN) and scalable up to 140 KN, is designed to equip next-generation Indian fighters such as the twin-engine Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and the Indian Navy’s deck-based carrier fighters.
This development comes at a critical juncture, shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public call from the Red Fort on Independence Day for building indigenous aircraft engines, and follows Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s reiteration that India will soon embark on this long-awaited technological frontier.
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The agreement envisages a clear technological breakthrough in India’s aerospace ecosystem, with Safran transferring 100% of its jet engine technology to DRDO. This includes advanced critical know-how like single-crystal turbine blade technology—a vital component that significantly enhances efficiency, heat tolerance, and lifespan in modern high-performance engines.
While DRDO has demonstrated laboratory capability in this domain, integrating the technology into a powerful, frontline fighter-class engine has remained elusive. Crucially, full technology transfer ensures that India will hold complete IPR ownership, removing long-standing dependency on foreign suppliers and enabling the ability to scale and evolve designs independently.
Safran-GTRE are expected to develop at least nine prototypes over a 12-year schedule, initially producing 120 KN engines and progressively upgrading capacity to 140 KN through iterative refinements in combustion systems, turbine efficiencies, cooling technologies, and material science.
The national strategic implications of this move are profound. With France positioned as a trusted partner that has consistently provided advanced defence technologies even during sanctions, New Delhi is deliberately choosing Paris over Washington.
Past U.S. technology-sharing offers, such as the GE-F414 deal, limited transfer to about 70%, withheld core intellectual property, and came with geopolitical constraints. By contrast, Safran has been willing to co-develop the entire engine under Indian ownership, marking this collaboration as the first instance of India gaining unfettered access to apex-level jet propulsion technologies.
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Observers also highlight France’s long-standing defence partnership with India—whether in the continued support of Mirage-2000 fleets, Rafale acquisitions, or assistance in missile navigation systems even post-Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998—making Paris a natural partner in this sensitive domain.
Operationally, the engine program would fuel a new generation of combat capabilities across the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Navy. The AMCA, slated to be India’s stealth-capable fifth-generation fighter, requires a thrust class far beyond what legacy Kaveri or imported F404 engines could provide.
With two 120–140 KN engines, AMCA will deliver high thrust-to-weight ratios, long range, and super-cruise capability without afterburners, thus placing India among the elite few nations with indigenous fifth-generation platforms.
Likewise, the Indian Navy’s future Twin Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF), designed for carrier operations, will rely on this higher-thrust system to enable heavier payloads, longer range strike profiles, and enhanced survivability against emerging threats in the Indo-Pacific theatre.
The engine initiative also aligns with India’s broader goal of aerospace self-reliance. Although DRDO had initiated the Kaveri jet engine in past decades, technical shortfalls prevented its progression beyond test beds.
Meanwhile, current operational fighters rely heavily on imported propulsion: India has signed agreements with GE for 212 F404 engines, primarily for the TEJAS MK-1/MK-1A program, and secured partial technology transfer for the more powerful GE F414 powering TEJAS MK-2.
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However, without full access to design expertise, India remained dependent on foreign suppliers for critical improvements and lifecycle support.
The Safran-GTRE project therefore represents a major correction, aiming to create a sovereign design, development, testing, and production ecosystem for aero-engines under Indian strategic control—an area where even China, despite its rapid advances in fighter prototypes, continues to rely on Russian power-plants or reverse-engineered copies.
Beyond military benefits, the mastery of indigenous jet engine technology carries significant economic and industrial promise. High-thrust military engines have civilian spin-offs in advanced transport aircraft, regional passenger jets, and auxiliary gas turbine applications, creating a multiplier effect across India’s aerospace and energy industries.
Private-sector participation will also be critical, with leading Indian conglomerates—Tata Advanced Systems, Larsen & Toubro, and Adani Defence—expected to contribute to manufacturing, integration, and testing infrastructure, building a world-class domestic supply chain.
Such public-private partnership under full IPR control ensures not only domestic absorption but also export potential in future, should India choose to collaborate with friendly nations seeking advanced propulsion technologies.
Strategically, the program could decisively alter the balance of technological dependency. With U.S., Russia, UK, and France as the only current nations with indigenous jet engines, India’s entry into this exclusive group would elevate its aerospace capability to peer status with top powers.
The co-development with Safran, given the track record of the 73 KN M88 engine that powers Rafale fighters, provides a proven design lineage to build upon, but scaled to the higher thrust-class demanded by AMCA and TEDBF.
Program planners believe that securing such an engine will not only ensure India’s autonomy in future fighter programs but also bolster its negotiating leverage in larger multi-role combat aircraft contracts, such as the pending acquisition of 114 imported fighters for the IAF.
Ultimately, the Safran-GTRE joint engine program signals a watershed moment in India’s defence modernisation. By combining French technical expertise with Indian research, industrial participation, and strategic intent, India is preparing to eliminate one of the last remaining structural dependencies in its aerospace sector.
If successful, the 120–140 KN indigenous engine will become the benchmark of India’s fighter aviation roadmap for decades, powering not just AMCA and TEDBF but also future upgrades and indigenous fighter generations, transforming the nation into a jet propulsion power in its own right.
Agencies
