PARIS \u2014 Initiatives launched by the European Commission since 2017 are a \u201cgame changer\u201d for European missile-maker MBDA, whose CEO Antoine Bouvier said those projects will \u201cprofoundly change the environment in which we work.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presenting the company\u2019s annual results this week \u2014 revenue is up to \u20ac3.2 billion (U.S. $3.6 billion) in 2018, from \u20ac3.1 billion a year earlier \u2014 Bouvier said the lineup of relatively small, European Union-sponsored activities has great potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCommission initiatives have a much more structuring effect than their budgets might indicate, and have a real impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked by Defense News to clarify this statement Bouvier took as an example the TALOS (Tactical Advanced Laser Optical System), part of the so-called 2018 Preparatory Action on Defence Research projects, for which MBDA and CILAS have been selected. The ground agreement is still in preparation but the funds \u2014 as yet unspecified \u2014 have been approved by the European Commission. The project will be implemented by the European Defence Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bouvier said that although the project was only worth \u201ca few million euros\u201d it was important because it was the first time the European Union \u201chas taken an initiative on this subject.\u201d Bouvier explained that a \u201cwide-ranging\u201d team with input from the Netherlands, Poland and others would be set up. \u201cThis team will then be able to answer future European tenders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bouvier predicted that \u201cthis might be the embryo of a much more important initiative in the European laser sector.\u201d The aim of this first, small project, he explained, \u201cis to prepare a road map for the future.\u201d For the pan-European company that he heads, it is “the guarantee that we will be well placed in the future when much more significant budgets are in play, starting in 2020,\u201d Bouvier said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cThis might be the embryo of a much more important initiative in the European laser sector,\u201d company CEO Antoine Bouvier predicts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":83684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":46,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,46,11,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3353],"class_list":["post-42973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-europe","category-global","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"THUUNEY7QJEY7IH2IA6JBQFTZQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/europe\/2019\/03\/20\/mbda-doubles-down-on-tiny-european-laser-weapon-project\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n