DGA - Meta-Defense.fr

Has France lost its audacity in Defense innovation?

At the start of the week, the French Defense Innovation Agency launched two calls for projects to design vagrant ammunition models. These weapons, sometimes improperly called suicide drones, mark the news in the Ukrainian conflict, with the arrival of the Switchblade 300 and 600 models and the mysterious Phoenix Ghost specially designed by the US defense industry at the request of the Ukrainians. However, the effectiveness of vagrant ammunition did not emerge during this conflict, nor even during the Nagorno Karabakh war in 2020 during which the Israeli-made Harops and Orbiters saturated the Armenian defenses. Indeed, this type of ammunition exists…

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What is the French Navy's new Future Mine Control System?

December 8, 2021December 8, 2021

During the Cold War, Western navies had an impressive naval mine countermeasures capability, marked in particular by the prolific Tripartite Minehunter program which enabled France, Belgium and the Netherlands to equip of 35 particularly high-performance high-tech vessels that entered service between 1981 and 1990. In 2010, as part of the Lancaster House agreements, France and Great Britain committed to jointly design the Maritime Mine Counter Measures program, or MMCM , in order to develop new underwater mine countermeasures capabilities by 2030. In France, this program was designated by…

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What are the strengths and weaknesses of the French defense industry?

November 30, 2021November 30, 2021

The French defense industry is now internationally recognized as one of the most efficient and comprehensive on the planet. From nuclear-powered submarines to combat aircraft, via reconnaissance satellites, armored vehicles and missiles, the major French defense companies are present in all niches, and as such claim the 3rd ranks defense technology exporting countries after the United States and Russia, but ahead of China, Germany and Great Britain. It represents, as such, not only the pillar of French strategic autonomy, but one of the key export industries of the…

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SCAF: French government takes defensive positions against Berlin

March 12, 2021March 15, 2021

On the occasion of his speech before the Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate on March 3, 2021, the CEO of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier, once again expressed his annoyance regarding the European future air combat system program which brings together France, Germany and Spain, and in particular against the largely excessive demands formulated by the Germanic and Iberian authorities. During his speech, the French leader also questioned the management of the program and the negotiations between states by the French Directorate General for Armaments and its two German and Spanish counterparts, but also by…

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The French Army reveals its ambitions with the TITAN program

December 4, 2020April 25th

The French Army and the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) published this week a video animation presenting the main lines of development in progress and to come for the air-land combat of the French armies. If today all eyes, and the vast majority of credits, are focused on the renewal of the "median" segment, namely light and medium armored vehicles, the most likely to be deployed in external operations, within the framework of the program SCORPION, the renewal of the heavy component of the forces is now planned within a new program called TITAN. TITAN is not, in itself, really a…

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Franco-British ANL / Sea Venom anti-ship missile ready for service

November 26, 2020November 30, 2020

On November 17, the General Directorate of Armaments carried out, on the test site of the Ile du Levant in the Var, the final test of the Anti-Navire Léger missile, or ANL, designated Sea Venom in Grande Britain, paving the way for his admission to service in the French Navy and the Royal Navy. This missile is one of the joint projects between France and Great Britain launched on the occasion of the Lancaster House agreements signed in 2010, with the FMAN/FMC anti-ship and cruise missile program and the war program MMCM mines, which also has just passed a decisive stage there is...

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Spanish Indra will lead the “Sensors” section of the FCAS program, but is that good news?

November 24, 2020November 26, 2020

On November 23, the French Directorate General for Armaments, known by the acronym DGA, signed, by delegation of the German, French and Spanish States, the contract granting the Spanish on-board electronics company Indra the management of the "sensors of the future air combat system program, or SCAF, aimed at developing the future combat aircraft and related systems that will equip the air forces of the 3 countries from 2040. Indra will therefore be in charge, with the French companies Thales and German Hensoldt to develop the radar and all the new generation sensors that will equip the key device of the European air forces...

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Rafale: flight tests of the new 1000 kg AASM ammunition have started

July 2, 2020July 8, 2020

A few months ago, we presented to you in detail the new F4 standard of the French Rafale fighter, produced by Dassault Aviation. In addition to notable improvements in sensors, connectivity and logistics, the Rafale F4 was also to incorporate new air-to-air and air-to-ground armaments. If the MICA-NG and the renovated SCALP are based on known armaments, the 1000 kg AASM developed by Safran is indeed a completely new ammunition. For some years now, models of the AASM-1000 have been exhibited at various air shows and exhibitions. Since the launch of the F4 program in January 2019, however, we were…

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Will France acquire a real strategic air transport capacity?

June 4, 2020June 17, 2020

A few days after the Ministry of the Armed Forces recognized France's critical dependence in terms of strategic air transport, Minister Florence Parly asked the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) to study an alternative solution. What give very positive perspectives to the capacities of the projections of the French armed forces. In terms of “oversized” strategic air transport (very jumbo jets), France depends on NATO's SALIS Contract or on private contracts via the ICS broker. These contracts have the characteristic of depending on the same Russian or Ukrainian suppliers. The core of the capabilities provided is the Antonov aircraft…

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Reflet du Monde's RDM MIL drone ready to be tested for logistics applications for the benefit of the French armies

March 27, 2020March 31, 2020

With the evolution and maturation of unmanned aircraft technologies, military needs for logistics drones are now experiencing a sharp acceleration. In France, the Bordeaux company Reflet du Monde intends to stand out in this sector with a heavy quadcopter capable of moving loads weighing around fifteen kilos, the RDM MIL. Derived from the RDM AG which is a real success in the agricultural world, the RDM MIL is a 30kg drone which has already carried out various flight tests to evaluate the configurations envisaged for the military world and that of civil security. After testing the possibility of transporting medical equipment and…

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