Nexter first capacity industrial contractor for CaMO programme.

As part of the Strategic Partnership between Belgium and France in the field of land mobility (Capacité MOtorisée, CaMo), the first Steering Committee (CODIR) was held in Paris on 12 December 2018.

French and Belgian officers at the first meeting of the CaMo programme's CODIR (Picture source: French MoD)

In the presence, for France, of the corps general Eric Bellot des Minières, representing the Chief of Staff of the french armed Forces, the Délégué Général pour l’Armement Joël Barre, and Major General Hervé Gomart representing the Chief of Staff of the Army, and for Belgium in the presence of Lieutenant-General Rudy Debaene and Major General Marc Thys. The roadmap of the program was thus initiated with Nexter as the leader of this project at the heart of European defense ambitions.

This meeting has officially launched the work of the three Steering Committees (COPIL) which will implement this unprecedented cooperation:
• The “capability” steering committee
• The “Armaments Partnership” steering committee
• The “Program” steering committee

A roadmap has been set for each of these COPILs by the CODIR. Stéphane Mayer, Chairman and CEO of Nexter, presented the industrial organization set up on behalf of the main French and Belgian manufacturers involved in the first CaMo contract.

The "acquisition" part of the partnership covers 382 Griffon multi-role armored vehicles and 60 Jaguar armored reconnaissance and combat vehicles fully info enhanced according to the Scorpion program and fully compatible with their French counterparts. These vehicles will be delivered to the Belgian land component from 2025. An innovative scheme called client (client state) / agent (French State acting as delegated developer) is implemented for this agreement. As such, acting in the name and on behalf of the Belgian State, the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) will conduct the acquisition market of the first capacity in connection with the industrial contractor Nexter, bringing all his expertise.

This market is entrusted to several contractors, with Nexter Group as a main. As an architect and system integrator of 100% of the French Army combat vehicles, Nexter is thus at the center of this strategic partnership between Belgium and France and contributes to the construction of the Europe of Defense.

Nexter relies on two strategic French subcontractors, Arquus and Thales, as well as Belgian manufacturers, including FN Herstal and CMI, via cooperation agreements. Stéphane Mayer is "happy to see the CaMo program start with this first steering committee, during which [he] presented the industrial organization supported by Nexter, industrial contractor for the program’s first capacity, and its French and Belgian partners. It is a real pride for Nexter Group to contribute alongside the two French and Belgian Defense ministries to a European defense project. "