Quel avenir pour l’Europe navale ?

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Voila un dossier sur le site du MinDef

    * Quel avenir pour l’Europe navale ?

   

          o Quelles ambitions ?

          o P. Vitel : « La France locomotive naturelle »

          o CF Amrouche : « Nos marines travaillent ensemble »

          o Le programme Horizon : une coopération réussie (vidéo)

          o Hélène Masson : « L’export un enjeu primordial »

          o Les capacités en chiffres (infographie)

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Il y a pas foule ici!!!

DCNS Pins Hopes On Exports/ French Shipbuilder Welcomes Cross-Channel Pacts

PARIS - The political push by Britain and France toward closer ties in military operations makes it easier for industry to cooperate, says Bernard Planchais, chief operating officer of DCNS.

"We are watching with great interest the discussions being held at the political level," Planchais said Oct. 27 at the Euronaval trade show here. "The more operational cooperation there is, that can accelerate industrial cooperation."

British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Nov. 2 signed two 50-year treaties that commit Europe's two largest defense players to close military collaboration. Mine warfare and submarine technology are among the areas of cooperation cited in the wide-ranging pacts signed in London.

The naval shipbuilding sector in Europe has been slow to consolidate its manufacturing capacity as governments jealously guard what work there is for national shipyards. That has led to outcomes such as the British government maintaining the construction of two large aircraft carriers but lacking money for planes to equip the first of the capital ships.

Closer to home, Planchais welcomed an Oct. 26 agreement signed at Euronaval that grants the French Navy use for three years of the Gowind offshore patrol vessel (OPV), which DCNS is building with its own funds.

The Gowind is vital to the French shipbuilder's hunt for foreign contracts, as domestic prospects are dismal.

It's a product that meets current demand, said Jean-Pierre Maulny, deputy director of the Institut des Relations Internationales et Stratégiques, a think tank here.

Back in 2003, DCNS had a large domestic market, and its order book is still strong thanks to FREMM frigates and Barracuda nuclear attack submarines being built for the French Navy through 2020, but it is smaller than before, Maulny said.

"What's missing is a second aircraft carrier," he said. "They have to compensate with exports."

DCNS is well-placed in the export market as there is a lack of U.S. competition, while the competition from Germany is "losing speed," though there is competition from Italy, Maulny said.

Senior French Navy officers are privately concerned that the government may further cut its order for 11 FREMM frigates, which originally started at 17.

When the French-Italian Frégate Européen MultiMission (FREMM) program was launched, the Navy planned to buy 17 ships at a unit price of 388.5 million euros ($549 million), totaling 8.51 billion euros. Under financial pressure, the government cut the FREMM order to 11.

The Navy is expected to sail the first-of-class OPV, dubbed Hermes, in the Middle East, Planchais said. The arrangement allows it to be "visible" to export customers around the world, he said.

DCNS hopes the "sea-proven" label will be a decisive marketing advantage as the company chases sales among foreign navies.

The Navy, meanwhile, will gain valuable experience and lessons in defining requirements for its own procurement, Adm. Jean-François Forissier, the Navy chief of staff, told Defense News. Forissier signed the Gowind agreement with Defense Minister Hervé Morin and DCNS Chairman Patrick Boissier.

DCNS, which builds heavily armed frigates and nuclear-powered subs, has branched out to a new market segment with the 1,000-ton Gowind.

The security market is highly competitive, said Hélène Masson, research fellow at the Fondation pour la Récherche Stratégique, a think tank here.

DCNS lacks new French programs, so it faces a declining domestic market, she said. In the world market, success is linked to technology transfer, Masson added. "The trick is to stay one step ahead in technology, which is difficult in times of budgetary constraint."

Planchais described the base model Hermes as an "innovative product" apt for anti-piracy missions, capable of 360-degree surveillance and designed to carry a UAV.

The top-of-the-line Gowind model is a "medium displacement front-line fighting ship," DCNS said. That heavily armed version would carry weapons for use against land and sea targets, and could be used for "force projection in a land-based conflict," the company said.

The DCNS OPV has an integrated mast and a length of 87 meters. The Gowind can operate up to three weeks on the high seas, and it has a range of 8,000 nautical miles and a top speed of 21 knots.

Pierre-Eric Pommelet, senior vice president for defense mission systems at Thales, the French electronics company, told journalists Oct. 14 the naval "worldwide market is positive," as foreign navies look to OPV-class ships to police coastal waters and to protect their economic exclusion zones.

Thales is adapting its electronic products to the smaller size needed to go on the OPV, Pommelet said. Thales owns 25 percent of DCNS and holds an option to increase that stake up to 35 percent. The rest is held by the French government.

Selling Technology Transfer

For DCNS, the export market includes selling technical skills to foreign navies to design their own vessels, with courses at sites such as Ruelle, in central France, and Toulon in the south.

Technology transfer is seen as a sales tool, offering what Planchais described as added value to customers. The alternative is a refusal, he said.

Export sales are essential if DCNS is to hit its target of doubling annual sales to 5 billion euros ($7.02 billion) in 10 years. To meet this goal, the company will help customers design, build and maintain their vessels.

For Brazil, for instance, DCNS will help the authorities build a shipyard and a naval base as part of a 6.7 billion euro ($9.4 billion) contract for four Scorpene-class diesel-electric patrol submarines. Of that total, DCNS will get 4 billion euros.

Detailed models of a shipyard and naval base were among displays on the exhibition stand at Euronaval.

DCNS also will help the Brazilian Navy design the conventional parts of a nuclear-powered submarine. It recently opened a submarine design school at Lorient, in northern France, as part of its Brazilian commitments.

The Brazilian deal reflects a strategic partnership with a turnkey project, Planchais said. "We have never had so many prospects," he said, and the FREMM frigate is DCNS' export spearhead.

On dirait bien que les "cost killer" de bercy sont toujours à l'oeuvre, reste un hypothétique PA2 politique, moins de FREMM avec ou sans PA2 et de la Gowind pour suivre les besoins du marché.

Pas folichon tout ça.

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Rencontre du Channel Committee

Mise à jour :05/11/2010

L’amiral Pierre-François Forissier, chef d’état-major de la Marine, a présidé la 7ème  rencontre du «Channel Committee» qui s’est déroulée les 4 et 5 novembre à Saint Cyr sur Mer (Var).

Cette rencontre réunit les chefs d’état-major des marines française, belge, allemande, britannique, néerlandaise, ainsi que leurs homologues des marines italienne, espagnole et portugaise comme observateurs mais également de hauts représentants des états-majors UE et OTAN. Ces réflexions prospectives doivent permettre aux hautes autorités navales de notre continent d’élaborer les bases de nos coopérations à l’horizon 2020, afin d’atteindre les objectifs opérationnels qui seront les nôtres dans les 10 prochaines années. Il s’agit bien d’adapter nos capacités opérationnelles actuelles et futures aux objectifs politiques de chaque nation, et ce dans un contexte financier contraint.

Sources : © Marine nationale