Safran Aero Boosters

Overview

The company traces its origin to 1949, when Fn Herstal began manufacturing Rolls-Royce Derwent jet engines for Belgian Air Force Gloster Meteor aircraft. After a 1977 contract to assemble F100 engines for the F-16 program, FN inaugurated a new assembly plant at Milmort near Liege in 1979. The engine business became FN Moteurs in 1987, was acquired by Snecma in 1989, renamed Techspace Aero in 1992, and became Safran Aero Boosters in 2016 following Snecma's integration into the Safran Group.

Safran Aero Boosters designs, develops, and produces modules, equipment, and test benches for aerospace and space engines. The company holds a leadership position in low-pressure compressors and bearing supports, and runs two of the three external test benches for the CFM LEAP engine, the workhorse powerplant for the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX families. Its Milmort campus consolidates engineering, production, and testing on a single 65,000 m2 footprint with approximately 1,450 employees.

A sister Belgian Safran entity, Safran Blades in Marchin, produces titanium compressor blades including those used in the LEAP engine, bolstering the local industrial chain anchored by Safran Aero Boosters. Together the Belgian Safran operations employ more than 2,000 people, making the country a key node in Safran's industrial footprint and one of the larger aerospace clusters in Wallonia.

Funding history

Wholly owned subsidiary of Safran (Euronext Paris: SAF). Not separately funded.