Safran has signed an agreement to acquire Rockwell Collins’s actuators, pilot controls, and special products business, the French company disclosed in its first-half financial results. Subject to regulatory approval, the acquisition is expected to be finalized in the first half of next year. A Collins spokesperson confirmed the sale of this business will help clear antitrust hurdles for Collins’s acquisition by UTC.

This move will expand the electrical actuation and flight control business lines of Safran Electronic & Defense and Zodiac Aerospace, which Safran purchased earlier this year. "In particular, [it] will allow Safran Electronic & Defense and Zodiac Aerospace (Aerosystems) to increase their critical mass in these sectors and to eventually enhance their competitiveness," Safran said.

The Collins division produces cockpit pedestal systems, pilot control systems, and throttle control modules, among others. It also provides a full range of fly-by-wire cockpit control devices, from modular controls to fully integrated pilot-control systems. Further, Collins is also a specialist for horizontal stabilizer trim actuators for business jets, airliners, and military aircraft.