During September 2001, the French aerospace specialist SNECMA Group acquired the company, after which it was rebranded as Safran Helicopter Engines.

[1] On 29 August 1938, the company was founded as Turbomeca by the aero engine designers Joseph Szydlowski and André Planiol, following the granting of their patent application for a supercharger during the previous year.

The company benefitted greatly from a decision by the French Government, recognising the looming threat of another World War with neighbouring Nazi Germany, having launched a rearmament programme during 1937.

The factory at Mézières-sur-Seine had only just attained fully operational status in June 1940, when the French Government advised a relocation to the south of France to avoid the German advance.

That same month, Turbomeca repositioned its operations to a newly requisitioned workshop in Saint-Pé-de-Bigorre near the Hispano-Suiza engine factory in Tarbes.

[2] During the late 1940s, Szydlowski opted to focus Turbomeca's design resources on low-power jet propulsion, intended for a new range of jet-powered aircraft, including turbine-powered helicopters.

During 1995, it was announced that the Rolls-Royce Turbomeca RTM322 turboshaft engine had been selected to power the British Army's fleet of AgustaWestland Apache attack helicopters.

[8] Over the following decades, the RTM322 engine was adopted by various operators to power a number of rotorcraft, including the NHIndustries NH90 and AgustaWestland AW101 medium-sized transport helicopters, along with the Eurocopter X³, a high speed technology demonstrator.

Keith Reid, Rolls-Royce Turbomeca international marketing manager, noted that the RM322 had been originally designed with future growth in mind, and that operators had been placing an increasing emphasis upon hot and high flight capabilities, which necessitated more engine power is being available.

[11][12] During June 1989, another joint venture, MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce (MTR) was established as a part of the framework created on behalf of the French and West German governments to developed an advanced multirole battlefield helicopter, the Eurocopter Tiger.