Joëlle Barre, the General Delegate for Armaments, spoke about the evolution of relations between the DGA and manufacturers during her hearing in the Senate. According to him, if indeed efforts must be made to improve the administrative processing of orders from the State and the DGA, it is also up to manufacturers to " take responsibility », Particularly with regard to meeting deadlines and cost overruns, drawing on the examples of the A400m and Barracuda.
The DGA's approach is certainly well-reasoned, but it is also questionable. Indeed, for every example of budget overruns or deadlines due to the industrial sector, there are at least as many due to permanent changes in state orders. Should we recall the example of the 6+2 FREMMs which will ultimately cost more than the initial 17 FREMMs, due to successive postponements and reductions?
Furthermore, if indeed the new LPM promises an increase in budgets allowing manufacturers to manage their risks over a longer period of time, we must not forget that the Ministry of the Armed Forces has an Outstanding Pay of nearly €50 billion, impacting for largely defense industries, and having led to major difficulties in HR and industrial terms. In fact, it may seem inappropriate to designate a single “culprit” by presenting examples without context, where the overall situation was much more complex…