LONDON - Safran has launched Safran Tech UK, its first research and technology center outside France, to expand its innovation footprint in the United Kingdom. The new unit is intended to support the company’s broader growth across the UK aerospace sector.

The move follows Safran’s recent integration of actuation and flight-control businesses acquired from Collins Aerospace in 2025. With these additions, Safran now employs more than 5,500 people at 14 sites and generates roughly £1.5 billion in annual revenue in the UK.

The company’s UK operations span landing gear, seats, actuators, flight controls, nacelles, helicopter engines, and electrical systems. Sites cover the full value chain from research and design to manufacturing and maintenance.

Safran Tech UK will focus on propulsion and actuation electrification as well as high-performance composite materials. These areas align with Safran’s broader investment in low-carbon aviation technology.

The company says roughly three-quarters of its global R&T spending is directed toward decarbonization. The new center is intended to leverage the UK’s academic and industrial innovation ecosystem to accelerate this work.

The creation of Safran Tech UK reinforces the UK’s position as a major aerospace innovation hub and supports national efforts to develop cleaner aviation technologies. For Safran, localizing R&T activity near its expanding base of operations allows closer coordination with UK universities, suppliers, and government-funded programs focused on decarbonization. The move also deepens the company’s integration into the UK industrial ecosystem at a time when electrification, lightweight materials, and emissions-reduction technologies are becoming central to future aircraft development.

Source: Forecast International
Associated URL: https://www.safran-group.com/

STANS, Switzerland - The Belgian government has selected the Pilatus PC-7 MKX Training System to provide basic flight training for the Belgian Air Force. Deliveries of a new fleet of 18 PC-7 MKX aircraft plus an integrated ground-based training system is scheduled to begin in 2027.

On November 27, 2025, the Belgian Government approved the award of a comprehensive 20-year service contract to Pilatus to provide training services based on the PC-7 MKX. Alongside the integrated training system, Pilatus, together with its Belgian partners Sabena Engineering and AG Real Estate, will deliver new and upgraded infrastructure at Bevekom/Beauvechain Air Force Base and ensure operational support for the next 20 years.

Training is planned to start in 2028, once the infrastructure and flight simulators have been delivered and instructors have been familiarized with the new pilot training system.

With the selection of the PC-7 MKX, Belgium joins the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force and the French Air and Space Force, both of which selected the PC-7 MKX Training System in late 2024.

Source: Pilatus

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Naval Air Systems Command has awarded RTX Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney Military Engines a not-to-exceed $1,6 billion contract to provide global sustainment for the F-35 program. Announced on November 26, 2025, the agreement covers a comprehensive range of services for F135 propulsion systems, including depot-level maintenance and repair, replenishment of spare parts, engineering support, and training at production sites and operational locations. This undefinitized contract, which was not competed, secures support for all fielded propulsion systems used in the F-35 air vehicle through November 2026.

Work will be distributed globally, with the majority performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (40%) and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (21%), followed by locations in Indiana, Florida, and Texas. International work sites include facilities in Norway, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Italy, and the United Kingdom. At the time of the award, a combination of Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds from the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy, along with Foreign Military Sales funding, were obligated to the project.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense
Associated URL: https://www.war.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/4344447/