General Electric Aviation and Safran will form a joint venture to develop and market a nacelle for Next Generation narrowbody transports, and other applications.

The accord is only preliminary, and the final agreement is expected to be signed in the coming months. The venture will bring together Safran's Aircelle unit, the number two nacelle maker, and GE Aviation's Middle River Air Systems (MRAS) affiliate, the number four player, with annual sales of nearly 1 billion euros ($1.6 billion).

MRAS CEO Sagar Patel said the two companies expect to have the nacelle ready in five years, which could make it a potential candidate for Bombardier's new C-Series twinjet. Ultimately, they aim to become the number one force in the sector, as they have in the narrowbody engine industry with the CFM56 engine family, according to GE Aviation President and CEO Dave Joyce. The commercial nacelle segment is currently dominated by Goodrich.

For the time being, however, the existing activities of the partners will remain separate, with each contributing needed engineering resources and technologies.

Executives stressed that the two companies are largely complementary, with MRAS focused on Boeing and U.S. military programs, and Aircelle on Airbus and European defense programs and regional/business aviation.