Safran's Grand Prairie engine site: from target drones to the Naval Strike Missile
Published October 14, 2026 / Facility and customer-route analysis
Safran Power Units is doubling capacity at its Grand Prairie, Texas, facility and adding a new assembly line for the TR40 engine used by the Naval Strike Missile. The additional capacity is expected online in 2028.
The expansion follows a fourfold increase in demand for Safran's TR40 engine family in recent years.
Grand Prairie capacity
Planned expansion of the Texas operation
additional capacity online
Including the new TR40 assembly line
TR40-family demand
Increase reported by Safran in recent years
Two established first-tier customer routes
Mapped first-tier subcontract awards to Grand Prairie / FY2021-FY2026
Historically, Grand Prairie's first-tier subcontracting activity has been concentrated in two customer relationships. Mimir identifies approximately $41.8 million in mapped first-tier subcontract awards to the operation.
Rolls-Royce
Navy T-45 engine-support awards
Grand Prairie provides maintenance and support for the auxiliary power units and gas-turbine starting systems used on the T-45.
Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems
BQM-167 and BQM-177 aerial-target awards
The records describe aircraft-engine and turbine manufacturing, with Grand Prairie locally assembling engines for both target-drone programs.
How defense value reached the site
More than 99% of the observed defense award value reached Grand Prairie through other prime contractors rather than direct government awards.
Mimir identifies approximately $334k in direct prime obligations over the same period, including a Navy purchase for a TR40 turbojet engine and several orders for pyrotechnic ignitors.
The associated part portfolio
Mimir's part data identifies 208 items associated with Grand Prairie through manufacturer design-control references.
A third program and customer route
The new TR40 line adds a third major program and customer route to the site's existing footprint: Kongsberg and the Naval Strike Missile.
Safran already has a longstanding relationship with Kongsberg, including a June 2025 agreement covering several hundred TR40 engines. The Grand Prairie expansion brings additional U.S.-based assembly capacity into that established supply chain.
For a facility whose mapped defense awards have historically been dominated by T-45 support and aerial-target engines, this represents a significant expansion into missile-propulsion production as U.S. and allied demand increases.
Safran Grand Prairie expansion announcement, Kongsberg-Safran TR40 agreement, Kratos aerial-target portfolio, Rolls-Royce T-45 support overview, USAspending, FPDS, DLA and Mimir Data Platform and Modeling.
Mimir analysis covers mapped first-tier subcontract awards and direct prime obligations associated with the Grand Prairie operation, FY2021-FY2026. Award values represent observed defense contracting activity rather than total facility revenue. Part counts refer to items associated with the site through manufacturer design-control references and do not imply that every item is currently in production. Figures are rounded.