General Delegation for Ordnance (France)

The Délégation générale pour l’armement, in English the “General Delegation for Ordnance”, or DGA, is the French government agency which conducts development and evaluation programs for weapon systems for the French military. [(Nuclear warheads and nuclear submarine power plants are designed by the division of military applications of the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique (CEA)).]

Armament programs coordination

The DGA coordinates the armament programs with industry in France, within Europe, but also with customers for export. With the service of Europe of defence, the DGA supports the emergence of armament programmes in co-operation and contributes to the development of the European Agency of defence. Fifteen cooperative armament programmes are under way. The OCCAr (Joint Organisation of Co-operation as regards Armament) ensures the control of six programmes intended to equip the French force "inter alia" : combat Tiger helicopter, ground-to-air missiles short Roland/Frole range, Cobra counter-battery radar, family of ground-to-air systems future (FSAF), A400M military transport aircraft, PAAMS anti-aircraft system.

Other activities

Testing and expertise

The DGA also comprises testing and expertise of materials and military technologies. Thus, dispersed around all of France, are test centres carrying out tests in advanced technologies, that it is in the aeronautical field and missiles (Flight test centre bases of Istres, Bretigny, Cazaux and Toulouse, Centre of Tests of Launching of Missiles Biscarosse site, island of raising and Gâvres, the centre of expertise LRBA in Vernon), electronics, data processing and information system security (CELAr in Rennes CTSN in Toulon), These services contribute to the validation of the industrial materials, but also to the qualification of the systems to the profit of the directions of programmes. Recently reorganised (2004) as a tool allowing coherence in everyone of its activities so much in the control of the programmes (subdirectorate of coordination of program) that in the technical approach inter-systems (Service of architecture inter-systems) that in the technological developments (responsible for poles).

Engineering schools

In addition, DGA supervises engineering schools that operate under the supervision of the Ministry of defence (École Polytechnique, ENSTA, SUPAERO, ENSIETA, ENSICA). The high-level military staff of DGA, the "ingénieurs de l’armement" (IA, literally, “Weaponry Engineers”), are commissioned officers, who are generally graduates of the École polytechnique, then the ENSTA or SUPAERO. The main part of the engineers, the "ingénieurs des études et techniques d'armement" (IETA, literally, "weaponry studies and technics engineers")graduates of the ENSIETA.

Naval building

The DGA also formerly had a division for building warships, the "Direction des constructions navales" (“direction of naval building”), now formed into a partly state-owned corporation, DCNS.

Notes and References

ee also

* AGATE, the architecture framework promoted by the DGA

External links

* [http://www.defense.gouv.fr/sites/dga/decouverte/la_dga/presentation/la_dga/ Official site]