Herve Guillou & Luc VigneronEADS Defence & Security and Nexter Systems have signed an agreement covering the creation of a joint venture to act as the "system of systems" prime contractor for Operation Scorpion, which aims to satisfy the transformation needs of the French Army.

The comprehensive Scorpion is an operation designed to bring together the different major equipment modernisation and coherence programmes for French land forces for contact over the period 2008-2025, while also ensuring enhancement of the operational capabilities of future land combat systems.

Scorpion will make it possible to respond to the most probable future combat scenarios for the Armed Forces and will cover a broad spectrum of operational situations in a joint-forces and multinational context.

This move to improve capabilities requires a global approach to equipment, combat platforms, weapon systems and transverse systems.

That is why the creation of a joint venture between EADS Defence & Security, via its Business Unit Defence and Communications Systems, and Nexter Systems brings together within an independent structure the competencies of the two groups in the architecture and integration of land combat systems for joint-forces operations. The goal of the resulting integrated team will be to design and implement global solutions for land forces and provide support throughout the different stages of the transformation process. In this structure, the solutions will be adapted to Contact Forces pour nationwide and multi national deployments ensuring interoperability with Forces of others nations, particularly with US Forces.

This structure will also be well placed to form partnerships both nationally and internationally in order to bring together for the benefit of Operation Scorpion both the competencies and contributions of the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB) and also the feedback from initiatives launched by our main NATO partners.

Together, EADS Defence & Security and Nexter Systems possess unique industrial know-how and are well qualified to specify and develop an appropriate response to the Scorpion requirement.

According to Herve Guillou, CEO of Defence and Communications Systems: "This joint approach will allow us to support Army transformation by implementing an industrial and operational approach that is coherent with the totality of existing combat and contact systems, while benefiting from the feedback from battlefield digitisation. This approach also fits in with the strategy for the EADS Group's Vision 2020 to reinforce the company's positions in the defence sector."

Luc Vigneron, Chairman and CEO of Nexter, adds: "This integrated team, which will unite the know-how of the two industrial groups, possesses the full capability to optimise a global solution by acting as a prime contractor for Operation Scorpion. This joint approach completes our partnerships network and confirms our position at the core of European integrated land defence offer building process."

Defence and Communications Systems is an integrated activity of EADS Defence & Security (DS). DS is a systems solutions provider for armed forces and civil security worldwide. Its portfolio ranges from sensors and secure networks through missiles to aircraft and UAVs as well as global security, service and support solutions. In 2007, DS – with around 22,000 employees – achieved revenues of ˆ 5.5 billion. EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2007, EADS generated revenues of ˆ 39.1 billion and employs a workforce of about 116,000.

Nexter designs and provides ground defence systems for armed forces. The Nexter Group offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services from conception and manufacture of weapon systems through to ensuring their on-condition maintenance. With a sales volume of ˆ 587 million, Nexter has a workforce of 2,500 and allocates 17% of its revenues to Research & Development. The products offered by Nexter include the VBCI combat vehicle, the CAESARO artillery system, the BONUS intelligent munition, the SIT-V1 command and control system, customer support, maintenance and system upgrades.

Nexter
06.06.2008