Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of

Safran Safran S.A. () is a French Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace, defence industry, defence and computer security, security corporation headquartered in Paris. It designs, develops and manufactures both commercial and military airc ...

. It designs, manufactures and maintains

engines An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

for commercial and military

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

as well as

rocket engines A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...

for

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

s and

satellites A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scientif ...

. Some of its notable developments, alone or in partnership, include the

Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", or "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French Twinjet, twin-engine, Canard (aeronautics), canard delta wing, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft designed and ...

's M88 engine, the

Concorde Concorde () is a retired Anglo-French supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France and the United Kingdom signed a treaty establishin ...

's Olympus 593, the CFM56 and CFM-LEAP for single-aisle airliners, as well as the

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...

's Vulcain engine. The company employs around 15,700 people across 35 production sites, offices, and MRO facilities worldwide and files an average of nearly 500

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

s each year. Safran Aircraft Engines also notably operates two joint ventures with

GE Aerospace General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, is an American aircraft engine supplier that is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. It is the legal successor to the original General Electric Company founded in 1892, w ...

CFM International CFM International is a Franco-American aircraft engine manufacturer. The company is a joint venture between GE Aerospace and Safran Aircraft Engines (formerly known as Snecma) and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1974 to bu ...

, the world’s leading supplier of commercial aircraft engines, and CFM Materials.

Timeline

* 1945: Snecma was formed when the French aircraft engine manufacturer Gnome & Rhône was nationalised. The name 'Snecma' was an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

for ''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'' (in English: 'National Company for the Research and Construction of Aviation Engines'). * 1946: Initial employees were German engineers, primarily from BMW, located in Decize, France. Group was known as Groupe "O" until 1950. First design product was the ATAR engine. * 1946 or 1947, the nationalized Établissments Regnier Motor Company was absorbed into Snecma and continued to produce the SNECMA Régnier 4L. * 1961: Snecma and Bristol Siddeley formed a joint venture to produce a high-performance jet engine for the

. The main body of the engine came from the

Bristol Olympus The Rolls-Royce Olympus (originally the Bristol B.E.10 Olympus) was the world's second two-jet engine spool, spool axial-flow compressor, axial-flow turbojet aircraft engine design, first run in May 1950 and preceded only by the Pratt & Whitne ...

, which was further improved with several refinements including the addition of the variable intakes necessary for supersonic flight. * 1968: Snecma acquired

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapons. ...

Socata SOCATA (later EADS Socata and DAHER-SOCATA) was a French producer of general aviation aircraft propelled by piston engines and turboprops, including business planes, small personal or training aircraft, as well as the production of aircraft stru ...

and

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

. * 1970: Messier and Snecma agreed to merge their

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

business. The following year, Messier-Hispano was formed, which was fully acquired by Snecma in 1973. Snecma's landing gear business was further consolidated by the creation of Messier-Hispano-Bugatti (later renamed Messier-Bugatti) in 1977. * 1974: Snecma and

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

(GE) created a joint venture named

, beginning a long term cooperation to produce the CFM56 series of turbofan engines. * 1990: Snecma announced its partnership with General Electric to build and produce the General Electric GE90 engine. * 1994: Messier-Dowty was formed following the merger of the landing gear businesses of Snecma (Messier) and the British

TI Group TI Group plc (formerly "Tube Investments") was a holding company for specialised engineering companies. It was based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire and was listed on the London Stock Exchange, at one point being a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. ...

(Dowty). * 1997: Snecma fully acquired the Société européenne de propulsion. * 1998: Snecma took full control of Messier-Dowty. * 1999: Snecma Services was created to consolidate all maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations (including Sochata-Snecma). * 2000: Snecma acquired Labinal, along with its Turbomeca and Microturbo subsidiaries. * 2001: Hurel-Hispano (now renamed and known as Safran Nacelles) was created to consolidate the group's engine

nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a streamlined container for aircraft parts such as Aircraft engine, engines, fuel or equipment. When attached entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached with a Hardpoint#Pylon, pylo ...

and thrust reverser business. * 2005: Snecma merged with SAGEM to form

. Snecma was divided into two divisions of the new group (

propulsion Propulsion is the generation of force by any combination of pushing or pulling to modify the translational motion of an object, which is typically a rigid body (or an articulated rigid body) but may also concern a fluid. The term is derived from ...

and equipment). * 2010: Snecma and GE formed CFM Materials as a 50/50 joint venture. * 2016: Snecma was renamed Safran Aircraft Engines as the main subsidiary of Safran.

Major programmes

In terms of volume, the most impactful commercial aero engine produced by Safran Aircraft Engines is the

CFM International CFM56 The CFM International CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108) series is a Franco-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International (CFMI), with a thrust range of . CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Safran ...

turbofan A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft engine, aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the add ...

powerplant. This engine is both developed and manufactured via a 50-50

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

company,

, which Safran jointly owns with the American industrial conglomerate General Electric (GE). Established during the 1970s, the CFM56 was not an early success; by April 1979, the joint venture had not received a single order in five years and was allegedly two weeks away from being dissolved. The program was saved when

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...

, and

Flying Tigers The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Ar ...

chose the CFM56 to re-engine their DC-8s; shortly thereafter, it was also selected to re-engine the

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

fleet of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, this operator being the engine's biggest customer. Following this turn of fortune, tens of thousands of engines have since been produced over the decades. A total of 30,000 CFM56s have been completed by July 2016. Safran Aircraft Engines is also the main partner for several other engines coproduced with GE, including the CF6-80 and GE90. Safran Aircraft Engines is also involved in the Engine Alliance, which manufactures the GP7000 high-thrust turbofan engine, one of the only two powerplants certified to power the twin-decker

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...

.About Us , Engine Alliance
During the 2010s, Safran started manufacturing its portion of the LEAP engine via the CFM International joint venture; Safran and GE each assemble half of the annual volume. To cope with high demand for the LEAP engine, CFM has duplicated supply sources for 80% of parts and as well as subdivided assembly sites. Safran Aircraft Engines is also involved in PowerJet, a joint venture business with Russian aero engine specialist NPO Saturn; this company produces SaM146 turbofan engine, which is used to power the Sukhoi Superjet 100 regional jet. During 2005, a new production plant was founded in Rybinsk, ''VolgAero'', to manufacture components of the SaM146; additionally, parts and assemblies of other engines produced by PowerJet's two parent companies are also produced on this site. In terms of military engines, Safran Aircraft Engines produces the Snecma M88 turbofan. This engine was developed to power the

fighter aircraft. It fulfills numerous stringent performance criteria, including a high

thrust-to-weight ratio Thrust-to-weight ratio is a dimensionless ratio of thrust to weight of a rocket, jet engine, propeller engine, or a vehicle propelled by such an engine that is an indicator of the performance of the engine or vehicle. The instantaneous thrust-to-w ...

, low fuel consumption across all flight regimes, and a long engine life. Additional considerations were afforded to both the M88's maintainability and upgrade potential (73 kN to 105 kN using the same core).Norris and Sedbon 1991, p. 35. Qualification of the M88-2 engine was completed during 1996 while the first production engine was delivered by the end of that year. It is of a modular design for ease of construction and maintenance, as well as to enable older engines to be retrofitted with improved subsections upon availability, such as existing M88-2s being upgraded to M88-4E standard. In May 2010, a Rafale flew for the first time with the M88-4E engine, an upgraded variant with greater thrust and lower maintenance requirements than the preceding M88-2. Paris Air Show 2017 Europrop TP400

In 2002, the Europrop International (EPI) consortium was set up by four aero engine manufacturers, Safran Aircraft Engines, Germany's MTU Aero Engines, Britain's

Rolls-Royce Holdings Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and dist ...

and Spain's Industria de Turbo Propulsores. EPI GmbH is tasked with designing, developing, marketing, manufacturing and providing support for the TP400-D6

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

engine to power the Airbus A400M Atlas, a military airlifter manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space. The TP400 is the most powerful turboprop in the world currently in production. During 2008, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

launched an open rotor demonstration led by Safran within the Clean Sky program with 65 million euros funding over eight years: a demonstrator was assembled in 2015, and ground tested in May 2017 on its open-air test rig in Istres, aiming to reduce

fuel consumption A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

and associated CO₂ emissions by 30% compared with current CFM56 turbofans. With its 30:1

bypass ratio The bypass ratio (BPR) of a turbofan engine is the ratio between the mass flow rate of the bypass stream to the mass flow rate entering the core. A 10:1 bypass ratio, for example, means that 10 kg of air passes through the bypass duct for eve ...

, it should deliver a 15% improvement over the CFM International LEAP already at 11:1; but

Airbus Airbus SE ( ; ; ; ) is a Pan-European aerospace corporation. The company's primary business is the design and manufacturing of commercial aircraft but it also has separate Airbus Defence and Space, defence and space and Airbus Helicopters, he ...

is more interested in the more conventional ultra high bypass ratio (UHBR) turbofan at 15:1, which could be introduced from 2025, offering 5% to 10% better efficiency than the LEAP and to be tested from 2020. Built around the M88's core, the fan blades are slower than the 1980s GE36 due to the reduction gear, lowering

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

and the fan can be mounted at the engine front for under-wing configurations. The

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

and the blade variable-pitch technologies were validated in 100 cycles and 70 hours of tests, including 25% at takeoff thrusts of ,

reverse thrust Reverse or reversing may refer to: Arts and media *Reverse (Eldritch album), ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001 *Reverse (2009 film), ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film *Reverse (2019 film), ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian cr ...

, and rotor imbalance with a blade weight. Afterwards, it was disassembled in April 2018 to examine each part and refine expected

wear Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology. Wear in ...

predictions. GE Aviation was involved through its Italian subsidiary

Avio Avio S.p.A. is an Italian company operating in the aerospace sector with its head office in Colleferro near Rome, Italy. Founded in 1908, it is present in Italy and abroad with different commercial offices and 10 production sites. Avio operate ...

Aero, providing the gearbox and the low-pressure turbine.To be certified, a blade-out event has to be extremely improbable, less than once every billion flight hours as its resin-transfer molding (RTM) carbon fiber fan blades will be supported by the in-service LEAP experience. During December 2019, Safran and MTU announced an agreement to found a 50/50 joint venture to manage the development, production, and after-sales support activities of the new military aero engine intended to power the Future Combat Air System. In June 2021, Safran presented an updated architecture for its RISE open rotor concept, with a single to 144-156 in (365-396 cm) fan with variable pitch blades forward of a row of static guide vanes, to deliver 30,000lb of thrust (133 kN) with 20% better efficiency than the CFM LEAP.

Products

Aircraft

* SNECMA Coleoptere

Commercial engines

Military engines

Turbofans

* SNECMA Atar * SNECMA M53 * SNECMA M88 * SNECMA Turbomeca Larzac

Turboprops

* EuroProp TP400-D6 (as part of Europrop International) * 5,000 shp

70-90 seater regional airliners (under study)

Space engines

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

* HM7B * PPS-1350 * PPS-5000 * Vinci * Vulcain

Sites

* Courcouronnes: Headquarters * Évry- Corbeil *

Gennevilliers Gennevilliers () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. History On 9 April 1929, ...

* Istres *

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approxim ...

Le Creusot Le Creusot () is a Communes of France, commune and industrial town in the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department, Regions of France, region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, eastern France. The inhabitants are known as Creusotins. Formerl ...

* Vernon * Melun Villaroche Aerodrome *

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines () is a new town and an agglomeration community in the French department of Yvelines. It is one of the original five villes nouvelles ( new towns) of Paris and was named after the Saint Quentin Pond, which was chosen ...

* Châtellerault

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

Safran Aircraft Engines - Official website

Safran Aircraft Engines - Official YouTube channel
{{Authority control

Aircraft Engines An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft Air propulsion, propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to as powered flight. Most aircraft engines are either Reciprocating ...

Companies based in Île-de-France Rocket engine manufacturers of France Gas turbine manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1945 Aircraft engine manufacturers of France Technology companies established in 1945 French companies established in 1945