France May Pick Scorpion Architect by Eurosatory

[buglerbilly]

By PIERRE TRAN

Published: 3 May 2010 14:40

France is expected to select the architect to define the Army's 10 billion euro ($13.2 billion) Scorpion transformation program before the Eurosatory land systems exhibition opens in June, a procurement official said May 3.

A competition is under way to appoint a designer and architect to define the architecture of the Scorpion system of systems, intended to bring coherence and gain maximum use of new and legacy systems and vehicles operated by the French Army.

"We expect contract notification before Eurosatory," said Thierry Perard, Scorpion program manager at the Direction Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) procurement office told journalists.

Three bidders are in the running for the architect's mandate: EADS, which has teamed with SAIC; CS, partnered with Ineo; and a consortium comprising Nexter, Safran and Thales.

It is not necessary to be a platform maker to be the architect, as the "system-engineering" approach allowed the overall architecture to be defined, Perard said.

The definition of the architecture should allow the first vehicle competitions to be launched in 2012.

Under the first step of the program to 2020, some 4 billion to 5 billion euros have been budgeted. That covers five major contracts: architect and integrator, including development and manufacture of the SICS V1 single battle management system; a 20-ton heavy version of the VBMR multirole armored vehicle; an 11-ton light version VBMR; the 25-ton EBRC light tank; and a modernization of the Leclerc main battle tank, to be assigned to Nexter Systems.

The overall budget for Scorpion, including the step-two phase after 2020, is 10 billion euros.

Eurosatory runs June 14-18.

[buglerbilly]

France's Scorpion Decision Delayed By Fiscal Uncertainty

By PIERRE TRAN

Published: 14 Jun 2010 18:12

PARIS - A much-awaited announcement on the award of the architect's contract for the Scorpion modernization program for the French Army fell victim to uncertainty over the cuts that would be made to the defense budget, Defense Minister Hervé Morin said at the Eurosatory trade show.

"We are in the process of analyzing and working on the ministry of defense's contribution to the putting the public finances back on its feet," Morin told reporters a press conference when asked why there had been no announcement of the selection of the joint bid by Nexter, Safran and Thales in the contest to design the Scorpion system of systems.

An announcement of Scorpion was expected to be the high point for the defense ministry, co-sponsor of the Eurosatory exhibition with the GICAT trade body, and which is billed as the largest land systems show in Europe.

As the prime minister's office has not yet informed the defense ministry of the budget figure for the next three years, Morin said he was working on a number of hypotheses, and it was only after the work had been done that decisions would be made.

A defense source said once the defense budget figures were known, a clearer view could be had on the scope of the Scorpion program, and that would help guide the work of the definition of the overall system. Until the budget outlook was clearer, it made no sense to announce the winning bid for architect, the source said.

Morin said he had to navigate between the capability objectives outlined in the white paper on defense and national security and the new budget figures, which were expected later this month.

A worst-case cut would be 5 billion euros ($6.1 billion) over three years, representing the gap between a zero increase budget and the aims set out in the defense white paper and backed by the five-year military budget law.

Nexter, Safran and Thales had planned to hold a joint press conference June 15, the second day of the trade show, to give details of the joint venture company they would set up to undertake the architect's work.

The value of the contract, at around 20 million euros, is relatively small, but the symbolic significance was great, as the work consisted of setting the framework for intended to bring interoperability and coherence to the battle field management systems and vehicles of the French Army for the next 20 years.

EADS and the CS group partnered with Ineo, a unit of utilities group Suez GDF, had filed rival bids but lost to the Nexter, Safran and Thales group.

In industry and Army circles, there is concern that the group may pose a conflict of interest as the companies may set specifications which steer procurement toward the systems and equipment sold by those same firms.

Thales senior vice president Pascale Sourisse said the Scorpion architect would define specifications to ensure interoperability within the French Army's infantry systems and vehicles and those of allied forces. The architecture would draw on "state-of-the-art technology," she said.

That offer of cutting-edge technology contrasts with the requirements of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Elrick Irastorza when he told a May 3 press conference the service wanted low-risk, mature solutions.