Naval Group: “We are going to recruit 650 people in Brest and Lorient” – Economy

Your turnover last year represented 4.35 billion euros, of which 36.9% was international. What are the levers for export success?

The year 2022, at Naval Group, is indeed dynamic internationally. To be successful, in my view, you need good products because international customers are extremely demanding when it comes to the performance of their vessels. You also need an excellent “French team”. We negotiate our contracts with the States and the DGA (Directorate General of the Armed Forces) at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, as well as with our partners Thales and MBDA, in particular. In 2022, our order intake reached 5.8 billion euros, including 2.4 billion euros for the contract for three defense and intervention frigates with Greece.

What are the lessons to be learned from the Ukrainian conflict for the naval sector?

The war in Ukraine showed, for example, the return of certain components of naval combat, such as mine warfare, to the Black Sea. In this context, we celebrated, this Wednesday, in Concarneau (29), with our Belgian and Dutch customers, the launching of the first drone mine warfare boat. This is a program that we won in 2019 with our partners Kership, Piriou and Exail. In this line, Naval Group is also investing in a future center of excellence for naval drone combat systems and autonomous systems which will see the light of day by 2027, for 140 million euros, in Ollioules and La Londe-les-Maures. (var). Our ambition is to become a leader in autonomous and collaborative systems and thus provide an innovative complement to crewed ships.

Your “rebound” is also about profitability. How do you explain it?

Beyond the company’s performance, we negotiated the termination of the contract with Australia, which resulted in the payment of the amount of 555 million euros owed to us, which has a positive impact on our figures in 2022.

Do you have any hope of working in Australia again?

Despite the shock in Australia, we managed to bounce back and reposition 650 people, the majority of whom in Cherbourg, thanks in particular to the launch of the program on third-generation submarines. I thus underline a current point of our activity submarines: we announced, Tuesday, the beginning of the tests of the attack submarine (SNA) Duguay-Trouin, in Cherbourg, before leaving offshore, two years after delivery of the Suffren.

Do you plan to recruit employees on the Breton sites?

Employment issues are important for Naval Group (17,000 employees) since we are going to recruit more than 1,000 people on our sites in the West of France, including 650 in Brittany, in particular 350 in Brest (services, 3,100 employees ) and 300 in Lorient (surface buildings, 2,600 employees). The profiles sought are workers, technicians and engineers. All the sites in the West are obviously committed to our programs in France and abroad.

What is the next generation aircraft carrier (PA-NG) project?

We are in the pre-project phase with our partners Chantiers de l’Atlantique and TechnicAtome. Engineering studies are carried out, for example, mainly from the Lorient site. The Brest site, which has expertise in the field, will also be associated with the engineering, production and support of the future aircraft carrier.

What do you expect from the new military programming law (2024-2030)?

We hope that it will confirm programs already launched and that it will engage us in new programs such as mine warfare, ocean patrol boats and that it will be ambitious in terms of innovation.