Nexter Systems

Nexter Systems (formerly known as GIAT Industries or Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre, Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Roanne, Loire.

Nexter S.A.
Société Anonyme
IndustryDefence
PredecessorGIAT Industries
Founded2006 (2006)
FounderFrench government
Headquarters
Roanne, Loire
,
France
ProductsArtillery, munitions, military vehicles, tanks, electronics
ParentKNDS
Websitewww.nexter-group.fr 
Nexter exhibit
Leclerc main battle tank

Group organization

The Nexter group is divided in several smaller entities, with the main one being Nexter Systems. The other sub-companies are:

  • Nexter Munitions
  • Nexter Mechanics
  • Nexter Electronics
  • Nexter Robotics
  • Nexter Training
  • OptSys
  • NBC Sys
  • Euro-Shelter
  • Mecar
  • Simmel Difesa

History

The GIAT group was founded in 1973 by combining the industrial assets of the technical direction of Army weapons of the French Ministry of Defense. The company was nationalized in 1991. On 22 September 2006 GIAT became the core of the new company Nexter.[1]

For many years GIAT struggled to turn a profit. The company was operated at a loss. A 2001 report by the Cour des Comptes[2] and a 2002 report by the National Assembly[3] described the situation as critical. Not until April 2004 did the board of directors present the public with a financial statement showing a profit of several hundred million Euros. This was mainly due to increased export sales, and the modernization of the Leclerc Main Battle Tank (MBT) and several other armored platforms. Sales to the UAE however were accomplished with the payment of $200 million to intermediaries.[4]

In 2006, the THL-20 gun turret was selected by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for use on the HAL Light Combat Helicopter, incorporating the 20 mm M621 cannon.[5]

Nexter has a joint venture CTA International with BAE Systems to develop and manufacture case telescoped weapon systems and ammunition of 40 mm calibre.

Nexter continues to produce several former GIAT small arms, cannon, and anti-armour weapons. One such weapon is the Wasp 58, a low cost, one man antiarmour/assault weapon system.

Merger with KMW

In 2015, Nexter and Krauss-Maffei merged under a single structure. The new KNDS – KMW+Nexter Defense Systems -- will be the European leader of terrestrial defense with more than 6,000 employees. The supervisory board appointed the new CEO of Nexter Systems, Stéphane Mayer, and the chairman of the executive board of KMW, Frank Haun, as CEOs of the holding company.[6]

Products

Nexter design and manufactures Military protected vehicles for the French military and other international militaries:

The company also acquired a large influence in the field of combat and artillery vehicles thanks to the development of several large caliber canons:

And several types of munitions for medium and large-calibre weapons:

  • 120 mm ammunitions
  • 155 mm ammunitions
  • Tank ammunitions
  • 40 mm ammunitions

Nexter/Giat also manufactures various weapons:

gollark: Which is your computer, which is… fairly trustworthy if you aren't running something guaranteed to spy on you (Chrome), and someone's servers, which aren't as much but at least might not be logging things in much detail or for long.
gollark: They answer warrants and such, because they have to.
gollark: Passcodes mostly have something like 6 digits, so very amenable to brute force if you can get the data somewhere that's doable. TLS uses 128-bit or 256-bit keys, which are absolutely not.
gollark: They have exploits to get around that.
gollark: Presumably.

References
  1. History of the Nexter company Archived 2007-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Les industries d'armement: rapport au Président de la République suivis des réponses des administrations et des organismes concernés Archived 2019-01-17 at the Wayback Machine, Cour des Comptes, La Documentation Française, 2001
  3. Rapport d'information déposé par la commission de la défense nationale et des forces armées sur la situation de Giat Industries, "Report from the defense and armed forces commission on the situation of Giat Industries", presented by Yves Fromion and Jean Diébold, French National Assembly, 2002
  4. The Shadowy Arms Trade - A Look Back at a Questionable Tank Deal "An intermediary received a commission of almost $200 million for the sale of battle tanks to United Arab Emirates. Some of that money, though, may have been used to bribe government officials."
  5. "Missile Mirage", Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 1, 2007.
  6. Nexter Systems and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann have completed their association Archived 2017-12-01 at the Wayback Machine. nexter-group.fr. Retrieved 10 June 2016
  • (in French) Cour des Comptes, Les industries d'armement de l'État, chapter 3, 2001
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