The firing took place April 14 but was only just announced May 11 by the missile’s producer MBDA and the vehicle’s maker Nexter, one of the three members of the consortium with Arquus and Thales.

The integration of the 33-pound, 140mm MMP onto the Jaguar was described by David Marquette, Nexter’s Jaguar project manager, as “a major milestone” for the effort that is being carried out in stages.

The system is expected to be able to destroy fixed or mobile-hardened land targets including the latest generation of tanks using direct or beyond-line-of-sight targeting.

The MMP is being integrated into the Jaguar’s turret by Nexter, alongside the remote controlled weapon station developed by Arquus, the Scorpion common vehicle/electronics technology developed by Thales, and the 40mm canon developed by CTAI, a 50-50 joint venture between Nexter and BAE Systems.

During the demonstration, the Optrolead Paseo battlefield surveillance sight interfaced with the missile system offering real-time optronic acquisition by day and night. Paseo, supplied by Safran Electronics and Defense, is a stabilized panoramic sight that provides fire-on-the-move capability. It can detect a target more than 9 miles away, recognize it at 4.72 miles and identify it at 2.49 miles, which happens to be the range of the MMP.

Frédéric Michaud, head of the battlefield sector for sales and business development at MBDA, said “this firing marks an important first step of the work conducted with Nexter to develop the Jaguar turret and integrate the MMP into a weapon system built on the latest technological solutions. This two-missile turret configuration considerably expands the vehicle’s firepower.”

The Jaguar, together with the Griffon multirole armored vehicle and the Serval, will equip France’s cavalry regiments to replace the current AMX10 RC, ERC 90 and VAB HOT armored vehicles. Belgium has also bought the Griffon and Jaguar.

The new acquisition complements the first Egyptian purchase of 24 Rafales six years ago and will up the Rafale fleet in the Egyptian Air Force to 54, making it the second-largest Rafale fleet in the world after France.

The first aircraft of this new contract will be delivered three years after the contract takes effect, according to a French Defense Ministry statement, but nobody at the ministry was available to specify when that would be.

According to the investigative, not-for-profit website Disclose, the deal, signed on April 26, is worth almost €4 billion (U.S. $5 billion). The Egyptian Defense Ministry said the purchase would be financed through a loan that would be repaid over at least 10 years, but the government gave no further details.

Egyptian officials were expected at the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance on Tuesday to sign the financing deal linked to the contract.

Besides the main contract with Dassault, also included in the pact are deals with Safran Electronics & Defense as well as with missile-maker MBDA for a combined $240 million.

Florence Parly, the French armed force minister, said in a statement that the new deal “reinforces the strategic and military partnership between France and Egypt.” She added that “this contract illustrates the strategic nature of the partnership that France maintains with Egypt, while our two countries are resolutely committed to the fight against terrorism and are working for stability in their regional environment.”

Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, said: “This new order is proof of the unfailing bond that unites Egypt, the first foreign user of the Rafale, as it was for the Mirage 2000, with Dassault Aviation for nearly 50 years. It is also a tribute to the Rafale’s operational quality.”

PARIS — The French DGA military procurement agency successfully test-fired the M51.2 strategic ballistic missile on Wednesday morning from its Biscarosse test site on France’s Atlantic coast.

The missile, central to France’s nuclear deterrence policy, was not carrying a warhead and the test was undertaken “in the strict respect of France’s international treaty commitments,” according to a statement issued by the Ministry for the Armed Forces.

Although the M51.2 missile is already operational, it is regularly tested. Data and lessons learned from the tests are used for development of the next increment of the missile, the M51.3, which is scheduled for delivery to the French Navy in 2025. This version should have a range several hundred kilometers beyond the capacity of the M51.2 and will equip the four third-generation, nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines that will replace the Le Triomphant class from 2035.

The missile was followed along its flight path by the DGA’s missile test team until it landed in the North Atlantic “several hundred kilometers from any coastline.”

Florence Parly, minister for the Armed Forces, said in the statement that she was satisfied with the test and “heartily congratulated” staff from the ministry, from the CEA atomic and alternative energy agency, and the companies who all participated in the test.

The 54 tonne (60 ton) M51 is the key component of the French Strategic Ocean Force. It is a three-stage, sea-land strategic ballistic missile carried aboard the four French Le Triomphant class submarines. Each missile can carry six to 10 independently targetable TN 75 thermonuclear warheads.

The prime contractor for the program is ArianeGroup, responsible for upstream research, design, development and production of the missiles, the land-based operating infrastructure and the command and control system aboard the submarines. The company is also responsible for in-service support and end-of-life disposal. ArianeGroup works with 140 suppliers on this program, but overall more than 900 companies are involved.

Airbus says this certification campaign completes the majority of its development and certification objectives, adding that it “aims to achieve full helicopter air-to-air refueling certification later this year with the conclusion of all mandatory night operation trials.”

The test flight campaign took place between March 22 and April 2 but was only announced by DGA,the French military-procurement agency, on April 20.

France is currently the only country in Europe with a helicopter refueling capability, with the French Air & Space Force’s C130Js able to refuel EC725 Caracal helicopters, now called the H225M.

Organized by DGA’s test flight department at the BA106 Bordeaux air base, the campaign over the west coast of France involved an A400M supplied by manufacturer Airbus, and Caracal helicopters supplied by the French Air & Space Force airbase BA120 at Cazaux.

There were eight flights during the campaign, which ranged between 1,000 and 10,000 ft and flight speeds as low as 105 knots (121 mph). During one of these flights the A400 for the first time refueled two helicopters simultaneously. There were also two night flights. Overall there were more than 25 test flight hours, 81 “wet contacts” between fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, and 6.5 tonnes (7.17 tons) of fuel were transferred.

The A400M can carry up to 50.8 tonnes (56 tons) of fuel in its wings and center wing box whilst two additional cargo holds for six-ton tanks can be installed. The A400M has already demonstrated its ability to refuel fighters such as the Eurofighter, Rafale, Tornado or F/A-18, as well as other large aircraft such as another A400M, the C295 or the C-130.

OCCAR is a European intergovernmental group that manages cooperative defense equipment programs. It is managing the FREMM program for the French and Italian navies.

The on-schedule delivery comes in the framework of the French Navy’s plan to renew its frigate fleet and have 15 front-line frigates by around 2030 to better protects its vast maritime economic exclusion zone, the biggest in the world due to overseas territories and departments it has in every ocean.

Alsace’s role will be to provide anti-aircraft defense around the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle or around the Mistral-class helicopter landing docks as part of a naval air and amphibious group.

The first six FREMMs (Aquitaine, Provence, Languedoc, Auvergne, Bretagne and Normandie) were delivered between 2012 and 2019. They were designed for anti-submarine warfare. Alsace and the eighth frigate, Lorraine, which is scheduled for delivery next year, will have exactly the same anti-submarine warfare tools as the first six, but with the addition of strengthened anti-aircraft capabilities. Both frigates have an enhanced combat system, an optimized mast and a radar with greater range; they can also carry 10 extra crew members.

Like her sister ships, Alsace is armed with the 32 Aster 15 and 30 vertically launched missiles; eight Exocet MM40 Block 3 anti-ship missiles; 19 MU90 torpedoes; one 76mm main naval gun; four 12.7mm machine guns; two Narwhal 20mm remotely operated weapons; and one NH90 Caiman naval warfare helicopter.

Unlike the other FREMMs, however, the vessel has a new radar and an electro-optical fire control system; increased radar and communication capabilities; and Naval Group’s SETIS combat management system equipped with specific air defense functions.

The 6,000-ton FREMM frigate is 142 meters (466 feet) long and 20 meters wide. It can reach a maximum speed of 27 knots and has a range of 6,000 nautical miles at 15 knots.

Florence Parly, the French armed forces minister, presided the handing-over ceremony.

PARIS – Naval Group is set to become “a Franco-Australian” company, CEO Pierre-Eric Pommellet said in the wake of a contractual commitment to spend at least 60 percent of the contract value for Australia’s 12 new Attack-class submarines in the Commonwealth.

Last week Naval Group’s long-standing commitment to maximize Australian content in the design and build of the Attack Class submarines was signed into the Strategic Partnering Agreement, meaning that it is now a contractual obligation that will be measured over the life span of the program.

Speaking to journalists in a videoconference on Tuesday, Pommellet said, “We aim to have 2,000 Australians employed in the Adelaide area in 10 years and there will be many more, including some who will come to work here in France.”

“Australia is massively investing in its naval industry and a supply chain is being created,” Pommellet explained. He had said during his visit to Australia in February that the submarine program would “also create a new and sovereign submarine building industry in Australia. Strong local supply chains will ensure that Australia has new self-reliance in this critical defense capability.”

Naval Group Australia’s CEO, John Davis, said the company was already working with hundreds of local businesses, adding, “there will be increasing levels of local content in each of the 12 Attack-class submarines, as we continue working with local businesses to boost Australia’s sovereign capability. Ensuring that at least 60 per cent of the Attack-class contract value is spent locally will create hundreds of Australian jobs for the long term, in new supply chains around the country.”

More than 120 Australian companies have already registered their interest with Naval Group to become tier-one capability partners in the program.

Pierre-Eric Pommellet told journalists during a videoconference on Tuesday that the joint venture (JV) was held two-thirds by Naval Group and one-third by Chantiers de l’Atlantique. “The program director will be somebody from Naval Group and the technical director somebody from our partner,” the Naval Group CEO said.

Pommellet said the idea was to maximize the synergies and capitalize on the strengths of each company. Naval Group has responsibility for the overall architecture of the ship and the transverse systems. It will integrate the combat system, the navigation and aviation-related systems, the catapults and arrestor gear; it will supply the sub-systems of the nuclear boiler-room and integrate the boilers into the ship.

Chantiers de l’Atlantique, for its part, will be responsible for the design and construction of the platform itself, notably the structure, the electric propulsion, the living quarters, the steering system and overall activities such as the hydrodynamics.

The JV’s relationship with sub-contractor TechnicAtome, responsible for the nuclear-powered engine, is being finalized.

Pommellet added that the JV “will end when the aircraft carrier has been delivered.“ It will first be based in Lorient, Brittany, at the Naval Group shipyard during the design phase and then move to Saint-Nazaire where Chantiers de l’Atlantique have their shipyard and where the ship will be built.

The JV was signed in Lorient on March 29 by Pommellet and Laurent Castaing, the director-general of Chantiers de l’Atlantique in the presence of Minister for the Armed Forces Florence Parly. She had come not only to announce the notification of the preliminary outline study contract of the aircraft carrier and inaugurate its design office but also to notify Naval Group of the order for two FDI frigates.

The two 4,200 tonne (4,630 tons), 121m (397 ft) long, multi-mission frigates, the second and third in a series of five, will both be delivered in 2025. This is an acceleration of the program as the original plan was to deliver one ship every 18 months with the first FDI scheduled for delivery in 2024.

Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces, and her Italian counterpart Lorenzo Guerini jointly welcomed the launch of the new program on March 24.

The SAMP/T, developed by the Franco-Italian consortium Eurosam, is used by the French Air & Space Force and by the Italian army to provide a ground-to-air, medium-range defense capability against aircraft and some ballistic missiles. It has been deployed operationally in a NATO framework. It consists of a multifunction fire control radar, a ground-based launch system and Aster 30 B1 missiles.

The new SAMP/T NG program will evolve the current system so that it better meets new threats that are “faster, more maneuverable, stealthier and used in combination with cyber attacks, decoys, multiple jammings and saturation attack scenarios,“ the DGA French procurement agency said in a statement.

The program will modernize the fire control system by integrating the latest technology active electronically scanned array radar adapted to the greater range of the future Aster 30 B1 NT Extended Capability missile which has been under development by the two countries since 2016.

The DGA says the new capabilities will also improve the contribution made by the SAMP/T to NATO’s ballistic missile defense.

OCCAR, which is managing the program on behalf of the DGA for France and Italy’s SGD armament directorate, notified the contract to Eurosam on March 19.

At a March 10 press conference, CEO Emmanuel Levacher described the ride as “no longer just a pretty prototype, but the world’s first truly hybrid armored vehicle.”

Arquus, formerly known as Renault Trucks Defense, supplies 90 percent of the French Army’s wheeled vehicles and is one of the three partners, together with Nexter and Thales, developing the Griffon and Jaguar armored vehicles that are the cornerstone of the French Army’s Scorpion modernization program.

Levacher specified that a number of potential clients “have already expressed interest” in the Scarabée, the company’s “flagship” product developed on its own funds, but did not specify who they were. “What we are seeking are a few ‘ambassador’ clients and hopefully, amongst these, will be the French Army,” he said.

Arquus currently has 60 export clients including the United States Defense Department, which bought 62 Bastion armored personnel carriers, and the Canadian Army, which bought 1,672 Medium Support Vehicle System trucks.

The rear wheels of the Scarabée provide independent steering so that it can not only make very tight U-turns (11m, or 36 feet) but, as the rear axle can be kept parallel to the front one in a turn, it can move simultaneously forward and sideways like a crab.

This unique capability means the vehicle can surge from cover and back again without having to maneuver and can also keep facing the enemy whilst moving sideways, according to the manufacturer.

Christian Jacques, director of innovation at Arquus, said that feedback from their army clients point to “energy, survivability and robotization” as the areas to develop in the future. “Vehicles are having more and more energy-consuming systems put aboard and in parallel it is vital that we reduce our use of fossil energies,” he remarked.

He also revealed that the company is preparing a hybrid version of the Griffon for next year.

Levacher said the company’s ambition was to reach an annual turnover of €1 billion ($1.19 billion) by 2030, “which is the critical size to enable us to finance our innovation.” The company does not reveal precise turnover data as it is part of the Volvo Group, but Levacher said they were in the region of €600 million, or $715.2 million.

The phase involves getting Spain and additional suppliers on board. The mandate to include Spain’s industry means that work share between Dassault and Airbus, instead of being split 50/50, is now split three ways, with Airbus holding 66 percent, as it represents Germany and Spain.

“I’ve accepted that,” Trappier said, “but it’s made sharing the work in all the packages, including the strategic ones, more complicated.”

The fighter program is part of the Future Combat Air System effort, which envisions networked drones accompanying the manned aircraft, and a combat cloud architecture pulling all elements together.

Trappier said that “we still believe in this program,” which was an “efficient” way for the three nations to develop a sixth-generation aircraft at a reasonable cost. However, he said any responsible chief executive “tries his very best to make Plan A work, but always has a Plan B.”

In this case it would appear that France’s Plan B is to go it alone on this program. Trappier pointed out that “in terms of technology, Dassault knows how to build aircraft alone. Safran knows how to make engines for combat aircraft. Thales knows about electronics, and MBDA missiles,” so French industry has all the know-how necessary.

Speaking at a virtual press conference Friday to announce Dassault’s 2020 financial results, Trappier explained that currently the partners “are butting against the one-third-each share of [industrial] work packages between us, Airbus Germany and Airbus Spain.” He explained that in the joint work packages “nobody holds responsibility.” He cited the flight control strategic work package as an example of an obstacle. “There’s no boss, but we are the prime on this program and as such are responsible to our government,” he said. “Dassault has to have the levers to action our responsibility.”

Addressing the issue of intellectual property he stressed that the “there will be no black box” in the sense that “all the states will have access to all the boxes.” But he remarked that “it is the creator who remains the owner [of the intellectual property], and we have 70 years worth of experience. Nobody can force me to give away our intellectual property.”

Regarding the prospect of a second NGF demonstrator, called for by German unions to preserve design capability, Trappier pointed out that this “is not planned for and has not been requested by the states,” and was a “problem between the states.” But he said that if there were to be a second demonstrator built, “it would be under identical conditions as the first one.”

Regardless of how the program proceeds, France’s sixth-generation aircraft “must be compatible with an aircraft-carrier, which obviously weighs on the decisions,” Trappier said.