From the first telephone exchange, we quickly feel that the game is far from won. Don’t approach the cannon Caesar who wants, makes us understand with a determined voice Jérôme Galy-Dejean, director of communication of the French company Aubert & Duval, renowned throughout the world for its high-performance alloys. However, it is the Caesar that interests us. This national flagship has become the symbol of military support from Paris to kyiv, at war against the Russian invader for ten months.
Mounted on an armored truck, the 155 mm gun is capable of firing six rounds per minute at a distance of 40 kilometers and then moving away quickly, before being located by enemy radars. His precision is formidable. Questioned on December 7 by The worldthe Ukrainian Defense Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, has also asked France for more of these mobile howitzers which “have particularly distinguished themselves on the battlefield”. Eighteen Caesar have already been supplied to Ukraine and soon six more, according to the Elysée.
Even if Jérôme Galy-Dejean prefers to reveal as little as possible, Aubert & Duval is at the heart of the design of the gun so prized by Ukrainians. This enthusiasm and the interest of many other countries for the military vehicle boosted the company’s order books and upset its production deadlines.
In mid-June, speaking at the Eurosatory international defense and security exhibition, Emmanuel Macron urged arms manufacturers to enter into a war economy and to get in working order to “go faster, stronger, at the lowest cost”. Aubert & Duval got the message, as we will surely see.
This company of 3,600 employees, owned by the Eramet mining group, has nine branches in France, but it is in the metallurgical plant located in Firminy (Loire), on the outskirts of Saint-Etienne, that the Caesar barrel takes shape. , fashioned from a 25-ton block of steel. For nearly twenty years, the site has forged the tubes of the artillery system subjected to the severe test of fire. These long blanks are then delivered to the French armaments group Nexter at its establishment in Bourges. The manufacturer then takes care of their technical finish of a rare complexity, since it is a question in particular of streaking the interior of the parts to increase their accuracy and firing power.
No doubt, Firminy deserves a visit. Not so simple, however. It will be necessary to wait three weeks before the first not repeated with firmness by Jérôme Galy-Dejean is transformed, over the days and negotiations, into: “Yes, provided…”
You have 86.37% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.