Safran is once again investing in its production capacities in the field of defense. In an interview with “La Tribune Dimanche,” Safran CEO Olivier Andriès announces  an investment of 120 million euros to increase… on the Montluçon site the production capacities of hemispherical resonator gyroscopes (GRH), a disruptive technology located at the heart of inertial units (navigation system which continuously determines the position, speed and orientation of a vehicle) manufactured by the defense equipment manufacturer.
 We will go from a production of 10,000 GRH per year to 30,000, thus tripling our production by 2032. More than 150 jobs will be created…he explained to La Tribune Dimanche. This industrial investment in Montluçon is part of a global envelope of 1.4 billion euros which was decided in 2025 by Safran to increase its production capacities around the world.
Thus, the aeronautical equipment manufacturer has already announced that it is launching investments in India – production of AASM laser-guided bombs and maintenance and repair workshops (MRO) dedicated to LEAP civil and military M88 (Rafale) engines -, in Morocco – MRO workshop and LEAP assembly line -, Dubai – production and assembly of seats – and, finally, in Belgium where the group will build a compressor blade factory. In France in Ain, Safran announced last July the launch of a fourth plant to produce aeronautical carbon brakes.
A state-of-the-art sensor
Safran is a world leader in the field of inertial navigation. “We are, and this is quite rare to point out, recognized by DARPA for being at the state of the art on this technology…”he recalled in the interview. It is the fruit of a 50-year collaboration with the French State in the field of deterrence. Because Safran designs and manufactures inertial sensors for all elements of French deterrence, in terms of nuclear submarines, ballistic missiles and the Ariane launcher. “ We are the only ones in the world to master the disruptive technology at the heart of our inertial units, that of hemispherical resonance gyroscopes (GRH) ”a-t-il précisé.
