Emmanuel Chiva, the man who came from somewhere else (Normalian), will he win his bet to naturally impose himself as head of the Directorate of General Armaments (DGA), which has so far treated him as a UFO. used to see He presented his roadmap at the request of Emmanuel Macron, head of state and armed forces, to transform the DGA so that it becomes more reactive to manage potential future crises and conflicts of a more acute and more intense nature. A scenario that has once again become credible in the light of today’s highly uncertain geopolitical context. “IIt is not just a question of adapting to today’s environment but of developing an enduring capacity for adaptation ,The General Representative of the Armament was estimated during the presentation of his wishes on Wednesday.
“The level of effort required of the nation obliges us. It obliges us to global change with the times. The President of the Republic referred to this on Friday, speaking of a “war economy that is not a permanent emergency”. This is a permanent change to our model. This pertains to the DGA, but also to our industry, which has been given unique visibility over budgets and programs for 10 years with this LPM (Military Programming Law, Editor’s Note).
What exactly does the President of the Republic want? During his speech in Mont-de-Marsan, Emmanuel Macron wanted the DGA and the forces to organize themselves “Shorten the acquisition cycle, accelerate the expression of needs, significantly reduce regulatory barriers, drive innovation into use for real users” , “As elsewhere our Ukrainian friends give us such a good example. We can do things much faster, much better, sometimes at a lower cost, if we know the users and innovators how to bring together, With the difference that Ukraine is in full urgency, France is not. But it is true that it was time to think about simplifying the management of armament programs subject to too many constraints (standards, specifications, pace of acquisition, etc.).
convert without breaking
Emmanuel Chiva is neither a miracle solution nor a revolution to replace the DGA, a valuable tool for a France that has proven itself and has the technical expertise and imagination to manage large complex programs She goes., convert without CaseWhat makes ER work », assured the General Representative of Armament on Wednesday during the presentation of his wishes. A ceremony that began with a tribute to General Ordnance Engineer René Audran, who was assassinated by Action Direct on January 25, 1985 because of his position as Director of International Development (Arms Exports).
However, it was necessary, even essential, to adapt the DGA and its organization (over 10,000 civilian and military personnel) so that it would be both more responsive and agile to face this new world. , where conflicts are escalating (Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh…) and where technological leaps (AI, quantum, directed effect weapons…) are extremely rapid. The adaptations desired by the General Representative to the armament seem to be in the corner of common sense. We will naturally judge this optimization of the DGA by its results. Because it is above all men who win a team, and not necessarily a new organization, that can help achieve objectives on the sole condition of adhesion of human resources. And like any organization, the DGA naturally has scope to “Simpler and more efficient”,
hardening of responsibilities
Very clearly, the objective is to transform the DGA from a model designed to operate in peacetime to one that must bring men and the organization back under stress to face a spectrum of more or less harsh conflicts. However, France is not at war, and therefore French industry is far from a war economy type organization. In addition, the major defense groups did not receive any new additional orders over the past year, apart from those provided by the LPM 2019-2025 – or indeed in the margin (some Mistral missiles) – to replenish ammunition stocks, although most At least three armies. The LPM of the future will have to meet the ambition of finding stock up to the operational challenges (training and operations) of the French forces.
But ruling also means making assumptions. , It’s about actively projecting yourself into the future. DGA has an important role in this project ,, estimates the DGA. It is not false. It must therefore both pursue what already exists (programmes worth around 300 billion euros have been launched) and anticipate new needs by adapting to what are essentially new disruptive technologies such as quantum, the mother of all technological battles. Should be applied It also has to open – which it already does – “Toward our state and industrial partners”, In this context theThat operations department becomes the Operations, MCO (Maintenance in Operational Status) and Digital departments.
Wants to make DGA within this department a rapidly gaining force. “It will participate in pursuing the objective set by the head of state to reduce the duration of acquisition cycles, and quickly make off-the-shelf purchases when relevant”, he explained. This development, which is already possible in the context of operational emergency procurement, especially for special forces, will only be possible “Only with the acceptance of a certain level of risk”, This is already the case for the Colibri and Larinae programs (remotely operated or covert munitions) initiated by the Defense Innovation Agency (AID), which was headed by Emmanuel Chiva before taking over as head of the DGA . “Together with the forces, we will work to better bear this risk by sharing them between the technical authority and the employment authority. To this end, among other things, the technical department will bring together all our expertise in engineering and expertise becomes a department.he specified.
anticipate
In addition to its main mission of supplying the armies, the DGA, headed by Emmanuel Chiva, must carry out four other missions that are considered priorities. It should provide the capacity for techno-strategic anticipation and Industry in France. , It is incumbent upon the DGA to enlighten the Ministry of the Armed Forces through a technological prism. scientific, on possible breakdowns and means of reacting to them ,DGA’s boss explained. is included in the field of effect, which reflects the concept ofThe hybridity of conflicts. in particular, should to get , a circle innovation-experiment-scaling up Rapid, able to keep up with the fast pace of change
technological ,, DGA will trust At the Center for Defense Techno-Operational Analysis (CATOD) to develop its activities and make it a benchmark center for emulation and of war game,
Third mission, an approach the DGA should promote “The Pragmatics of Cooperation” And Support export. Five years later, the results of Franco-German cooperation are disappointing, with programs abandoned by the Germans (modernization of the Tiger, development of a new missile, maritime patrol aircraft) and programs slipping (SCAF and MGCS). Not to mention the agreements made by the Germans in the space sector (Schwering Agreement). The time has come for France to find other partners, such as the countries mentioned during the President congratulating the armies:India, United Arab Emirates as well as Greece, Italy and Spain with whom cooperation in the field of submarines (Naval Group/Navantia) ended very badly. Finally, the state-by-state agreement between Belgium and France within the framework of the CAMO contract has shown “It should all interest and inspire a for other partnership opportunities ,, This type of accordion has never been reused.
a BITD under surveillance
Emmanuel Chiva knows BITD very well. He comes from there (Aguiarís) after building several startups. He is not letting go but the fight to move this mighty defense industry shaped by years of scarcity and sampling policies will be uphill. “Along with this and in addition to the support role, the DGA may have a monitoring mission for our BITD. Just as banks do stress testing, we will also do ramp-up testing to verify that the entire The production chain is able to respond to the required acceleration.He already explained to the National Assembly at the end of November.
On Wednesday, the BITD came to know how the DGA intends to crack down. Emmanuel Chiva seeks new direction for defense industry that brings services together Economic Intelligence and Industrial Affairs and Quality Services, “deep analysis” Structural cost of BITD , to identify avenues for sustainable reduction in acquisition costs and contribute ,, It promises to be a good fight. because the unit prices of materials have to To reflect the increased volume ordered ,, allowed by the credits dedicated to the new LPM. For now, the makers are still waiting for additional orders. that new dThe directive will ensure the strategic orientation of BITD, which includes the maintenance and development of existing and future areas.
In addition, the Ministry’s financial efforts in favor of the MCO do not give sufficient results on the availability of equipment, estimates the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Florence Paley saw it in the same way as her predecessors. But he tackled this problem by launching a major reform, the first fruits of which are beginning to appear. Sébastien Lecornu wants to continue this effort by tightening the noose on the manufacturers, who are taking advantage of this to increase their margins for MCO. “This has been done in line with the mandate handed over to me yesterday (Tuesday) Minister of Armed Forces jointly with EMA (army personnel) and support services, engage in dialogue with manufacturers in the area of MCO to improve efficiency and control overall costs”, explained Emmanuel Chiva. Nothing new really…
Prevention and Cyber
The final mission assigned to the DGA: maintaining and developing a strong level of nuclear deterrence Cyber capability of the Ministry of the Armed Forces for the benefit of France. In this spirit, Emmanuel Chiva Creates a preventive assistant position who will report directly to him. On Within Operations, the MCO and Digital Department, an Operations Unit Prevention is created, which brings together all activities related to prevention. In the cyber domain, the DGA, along with the ANSSI, is one of the most important poles Contribute to the development of technical skills, cyber sector within the state French,
