Ihe war in Ukraine, the first conflict on such a scale since 1945 on European soil, unprecedented air-land maneuvers underway in Germany, sharply rising military budgets all over the world, particularly in Europe and France… The 54e International Aeronautics and Space Show opens at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis), Monday, June 19, in a geopolitical environment that has nothing in common with that of its last edition, in 2019. equipment exhibitions and aerial demonstrations, with the American F-35 in the spotlight, will delight the 350,000 expected visitors, but they will no longer be seen only as attractions for enthusiasts of planes, helicopters or drones.
The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, should reaffirm there, Monday, his call for the mobilization of the industrial and technological base of defense (BITD), even if the alignment is not always there. Indeed, Airbus Defense and Space and Dassault Aviation will each present the air combat system of the future (SCAF), on which they have been working together with difficulty since the launch of this major program in July 2017.
By decreeing, in June 2022, that France had entered into “war economy”the Head of State has made some bosses smile or irritated. “But it’s a reality: it helps us to intensify the dialogue with the Directorate General of Armaments [DGA] and the General Staff”, recognizes one of them. The new military programming law (LPM), which covers the period from 2024 to 2030, illustrates this desire to mobilize, even if the experts are debating the real scope of the 413 billion euros included in this project, which is currently being drafted. examination in Parliament, and the visibility given to manufacturers.
The issue is to “produce more, faster and at controlled costs”, underlines the government. The industrial tool is ramping up. At Nexter, the production cycle of the 155 mm Caesar guns, supplied to the Ukrainian armed forces from the summer of 2022, has been reduced from thirty months to eighteen months, allowing it to produce six per month instead of four. , with the shells which accompany them. Thales will double its production of GM-200 radars. For its part, the DGA is carrying out work to simplify armament specifications. “What is simple happens better and faster”summarizes Alexandre Lahousse, head of the industrial affairs department within the DGA.
Strong sales of military equipment
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