Defense partnerships: “There is no desire for France to damage Belgium”

Emmanuel Chiva, general delegate of armaments in France, defends this partnership and sweeps criticisms sometimes made to France and its industrial groups. However, “We can no longer waste time,” he launches in front of the military challenges that are essential today. Similarly, The message is clear. For example, Interview.

What are your main missions?

The Directorate General of Armament (DGA) has three major missions. In addition, The first is to equip our armies. However, The second is the preparation of the future. Therefore, When you design a new generation aircraft carrier. Similarly, a nuclear submarine that will remain in service until 2090, it takes a real long-term control. Moreover, The third mission is cooperation, especially European, and export. Consequently, France does not have a sufficient internal market to ensure the profitability of its industrial. Similarly, technological defense base (IBBC) alone. Therefore, The latter includes around 4,500 companies, including 9 major industrial projectors, and 1,600 who are considered critical. Nevertheless, Hence the need to export.

F-35. For example, much more limited benefits for Belgium: “Advanced figures are defense partnerships: “there no desire swollen”

Precisely, we sometimes hear that France has trouble making its voice heard in certain partner countries. For example, We see tensions. Therefore, One can think of Belgium or Germany, where manufacturers defend their national interests. Consequently, Is it also your role to put oil in the cogs?

Absolutely. Nevertheless, But you have to keep in mind that not all countries are in the same situation. Therefore, Some, like Germany, Spain or Belgium, have their own industrial base, which facilitates cooperation.

What do you discuss with Germany or Belgium?

At the moment. for example, we are preparing several discussions in Germany (at the end of July, editor’s note) on projects such as the SCAF (Air combat system of the future), the MGCS (Char of the Future) or even drones. Similarly, We also have very regular exchanges with Belgium.

Despite this, Europe remains largely dependent on the American defense industry …

France occupies a fairly unique position in Europe because it is a state with nuclear weapons. Moreover, which forces us to defense partnerships: “there no desire maintain strategic autonomy. For example, This results in an industrial defense base which is a little hypertrophied. We are able to produce planes, submarines, missiles, ammunition, weapons, satellites, etc. This is why France has a singular place in the concert of European nations. And that is why General de Gaulle had created the DGA in 1961. But this is not the case for all countries. So we want to work with other nations to share these capacities. We must stop negative speeches. We all have the assets in hand in Europe.

But we still remain bottled with American equipment … It is difficult to get rid of it …

The goal is not to cut yourself off from the United States. we remain a NATO framework nation, with all that it induces in terms of interoperability. But ally does not mean alienated. We must be able to take charge of our destiny, we Europeans. American disengagement pushes to see how we organize to find our sovereignty and respond to attacks. There are obviously flaws, but I will not detail the vulnerabilities here. This would offer sensitive information to our competitors. But Europe largely has the means to guarantee defense partnerships: “there no desire its autonomy.

But the United States has a double speech: Donald Trump wants to disengage. that Europe is taking charge, but also and above all that it buys American …

You can have freely granted dependencies. France is. for example, launching a new generation aircraft carrier, and we are working with the United States on defense partnerships: “there no desire an unprecedented technology of electromagnetic catapult. And there is no problem working with the United States at this level. But you have to build a credible alternative to American industry.

But, again, difficult to set up in Europe?

This presupposes a change of software: defense partnerships: “there no desire so far, the tasks were distributed in an egalitarian way between countries. Today. we can no longer waste time, you have to get the “best athletes”, whether they are French, Italian, Germans, Belgians, In each area, to go faster, further, and avoid turning to the United States or elsewhere.

The export profitability issue is crucial for these major projects, as for the SCAF. We must be able to resell these planes internationally, outside Europe, to guarantee profitability. Can we really reach the critical mass?

Yes, provided you are ambitious and structured. If a country is more advanced in an area. it must be recognized and relying on it, being able to abandon capacities (France has, for example, abandoned the production of Famas, the famous assault rifle of the French army, for the benefit of the German HK416F, editor’s note). We have the critical mass to succeed. defense partnerships: “there no desire What is needed is political will.

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Some local policies could see it with a bad eye. For reasons of jobs, in a complicated context …

It is the skills that take precedence. In any case, it will generate jobs and wealth in different countries. No one is loser. Sometimes the French have been perceived as arrogant due to the hypertrophy of this industrial. technological defense base, but it is not a correct vision.

The question of industrial repercussions for partners also arouses tensions. As with the Camo contract with Belgium. The Belgian Court of Auditors has issued reservations on the actual benefits for the Belgian local industry. What do you answer?

Honestly, when you look at the facts, the report goes beyond Camo.

Critics on too low benefits (As for those advanced for the F-35) were exaggerated?

It’s exaggerated. The commitments are made and benefit from the local industry. Camo is an example of the most successful European cooperation in matters of defense. It is an industrial and operational alliance: common training, shared acquisitions, interoperability. FN Herstal, defense partnerships: “there no desire John Cokerill (via Arquus, recently bought), Mol … are all Belgian companies that equip French vehicles, such as griffons, etc. It is a winning program for France and Belgium. There is no desire for France to damage Belgium.

The total cost of camo is estimated at 14 billion euros over 25 years, compared to 1.6 billion above. Is the methodology incorrect?

No, but she takes things difficult to appreciate today. The report of the Court of Auditors is based on a perimeter that is difficult to analyze. defense partnerships: “there no desire there is no visibility. There are counted things that are not in the Camo agreement, such as support, training, training, operating and dismantling costs.

You talk about FN Herstal. Is collaboration with France called upon to intensify in the field of light weapons?

It is possible. There is a firm will to collaborate in these areas. And France will order ammunition of 5.56 to FN Herstal and minimi machine guns.

Is the purchase of F-35 by Belgium problematic for this cooperation?

I’m not going to comment on this. It is a sovereign choice. But Belgium is an observer for the SCAF and there are deadlines in the coming weeks on this program. There could be guidelines by fall. but I leave the prayer to the Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu, to make the announcements when the time comes.

Belgium could defense partnerships: “there no desire move to a more active role than just observer member in the SCAF program? Despite the recent tensions between Dassault and Belgium …

There are discussions with the partners, I can’t say anything about it at the moment. Anyway, together, we go further.

“Belgium does not care about us”. “no lesson to receive arrogant industrialists”: strong tensions between Francken and the boss of Dassault

We often mention a necessary consolidation of European industry, on the model of “last supper” (“last supper”) of the 1990s. Is it a way to follow?

Yes. This is exactly what we did with Airbus, KNDS or MBDA. This logic must be applied to other areas, keeping in mind that we are often “cooperative”: both partners and competitors.

One last question: where is the aircraft carrier of new French generation? What maturity is it for?

The goal defense partnerships: “there no desire is to arrive in the mid-2030s to have a nuclear aircraft carrier who was able. to take over from Charles de Gaulle. And it will not just be an aircraft carrier because it will wear drones. Aeronavale will thus be able to cope with the wars of tomorrow.