US-based advanced composites specialist Hexcel (Stamford, Connecticut; www.hexcel.com) has signed a long-term contract with French aircraft and propulsion systems manufacturer Safran (Paris; www.safran-group.com) for the supply of composite materials for LEAP-1 engine programmes. The agreement includes the American company's "HexTow" IM7 carbon fibre, which will be used to manufacture all LEAP-1 engine fan blades and containment cases.

Hexcel has also agreed to supply Safran with its "Hexply" carbon prepregs for the production of Airbus 320 NEO nacelles. With the signing, Nick Stanage, Hexcel president and CEO, stated the signing was the culmination of a 30-year relationship between the two companies.

Composites will take increasingly more room in Safran's products and Hexcel is our partner to sustain growth, noted Xavier Dessemond, a vice president at the aerospace giant. Indeed, Safran announced in 2012 it was building a composites research centre in Itteville, about 40 km south of Paris.

In addition to its aerospace core business, the French high technology group also serves the defence and security industries. Operating worldwide, it has more than 62,500 employees and generated sales of EUR 13.6 bn in 2012.