S’pore Aero Engine Services to hire over 1,000 technicians in next 5 years under deal with EDB

SINGAPORE – Singapore Aero Engine Services (SAESL) is committed to hiring more than 1,000 technicians in the next five years, as part of an agreement signed at the Singapore Airshow 2026.

It is one of the world’s largest maintenance, repair and overhaul companies that service Rolls-Royce’s Trent family of jet engines.

Its announcement was among those made on the third day of the trade segment of the show, which is open to the public on Feb 7 and 8.

Here is a round-up of the latest key developments at the show:

SAESL ramping up hiring

SAESL will hire more than 1,000 technicians in the next five years. This is to support its long-term projection for engine deliveries, it said.

This will represent a 50 per cent expansion of its technician workforce.

The hiring commitment is part of an agreement signed with the Economic Development Board on Feb 5 at the Singapore Airshow 2026.

SAESL will also explore the development of a training academy, which it said is expected to significantly increase the capacity for engine maintenance and the capabilities of technicians.

The firm is adopting a training model that will support its growth plans as it ramps up to meet Rolls-Royce’s ambition to significantly increase its global maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capacity by 2030.

A spokesperson for SAESL told The Straits Times that it currently employs around 2,000 skilled technicians, but its growth and transformation programme in Singapore requires a further expansion of its workforce.

To that end, the spokesperson said SAESL is partnering institutes of higher learning, including polytechnics, ITE and local universities, to attract talent.

The firm’s spokesperson said its long‑term engine deliveries projection looks at a 10‑ to 15‑year time frame aligned with Rolls‑Royce’s global fleet growth; for the firm, this means progressively ramping up output to meet the rising demand.

Without providing the current figure, SAESL said it expects to increase its engine output to about 400 annually by 2028.

Said the SAESL spokesperson: “This progressive uplift in workload and complexity underscores the need to expand our technician base and invest in advanced repair capabilities.”

SAESL also signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore Polytechnic at the air show to establish a framework for longer-term collaboration focused on strengthening the talent pipeline for aerospace MRO.

Planned initiatives include industry-supported elective modules related to engine MRO.

ST Engineering to use AI software from US firm

Selected ST Engineering platforms will be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) software from a US aerospace and defence technology firm that will enable the platforms to sense, decide and act autonomously.

Shield AI and ST Engineering signed a memorandum of understanding on Feb 4 at the Singapore Airshow 2026, for the integration of Shield AI’s Hivemind software with ST Engineering’s platforms.

According to Shield AI, Hivemind is an AI software that has the ability to adapt during missions, reroute around no-fly zones, avoid threats, respond to unexpected conditions, and complete missions safely and effectively without human intervention – this is unlike traditional autopilots that rely on pre-planned routes.

Shield AI said ST Engineering will also assess the Hivemind software development kit to support the Singapore technology and defence group’s ability to independently design, test and deploy mission autonomy. The development kit allows users to eventually have their own autonomy software.

On Feb 5, Shield AI and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) announced they would expand a partnership to co-develop AI for autonomous flight operations that they signed together with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) in March 2025.

The expansion involves co-developing and increasing the use of AI in a wider range of autonomous drones applications using the Hivemind software development kit, said Shield AI and DSTA.

ST Engineering partners UAE company to test unmanned cargo drones

On Feb 5, ST Engineering inked a pact with Lodd Autonomous, an autonomous vehicle company based in Abu Dhabi, to deploy its largest unmanned cargo aircraft DrN-600 in delivery trials in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. 

This is the first sale of the DrN-600, which debuted at the Singapore Airshow 2026. The deal will include at least two vehicles.

Tests for the aircraft will start from the second half of 2026. 

ST Engineering also signed an agreement to resell Lodd Autonomous’ Hili cargo drones to markets in the Asia-Pacific. These Hili drones can carry up to 250kg over a range of 700km – more than the DrN-600’s load of 100kg over a range of 70km to 100km. 

Speaking to the media at the signing on Feb 5, Mr Teong Soo Soon, senior vice-president and head of unmanned air systems in commercial aerospace at ST Engineering, said the addition of Hili drones to the group’s fleet will provide customers with a suite of unmanned aircraft systems. 

The long-range Hili drones can carry cargo to a central facility, he added, before ST Engineering’s DrN-600 distributes cargo to various locations.

On potential demand in the region, Mr Teong said the group is looking into countries with islands. 

Successful trial collaboration of RSAF helicopter and Airbus Helicopters’ unmanned aerial system 

Flight trials were carried out at a Singapore airbase in January to test the teaming capabilities of a helicopter and an unmanned aerial system.

Manned-unmanned teaming capabilities involve the synchronised operation of platforms operated by humans and unmanned systems.

The January trials involved the RSAF’s H225M medium-lift helicopter and Airbus Helicopters’ Flexrotor unmanned aerial system, DSTA and Airbus said on Feb 5.

DSTA said the trials validated how a manned helicopter could leverage real-time data from an unmanned drone to enhance a search-and-rescue mission, significantly extending the aircraft’s visual range and improving mission effectiveness.

It added that the integration between the H225M and the Flexrotor enabled the helicopter crew to receive and process real-time data from the Flexrotor while maintaining direct control of the unmanned system.

This enabled rapid decision-making and minimised the crew’s exposure to high-risk environments.

The trials followed a project agreement DSTA signed with Airbus Helicopters in June 2025 on the sidelines of the Paris Airshow.