Nicolas Drogi: '€8M invested in the infrastructure of DGA TN Toulon'
General Armament Engineer Nicolas Drogi, head of the DGA expertise and testing center, presented New Year wishes for DGA Techniques navales.
For the third time since his appointment, the director presented the "absolutely remarkable" results and the highlights for the center in 2024, as well as the major scheduled events (creation of the drone testing center, new edition of I-Naval, etc.)
as well as the strategic directions for DGA Techniques navales.
Previously, Nicolas Drogi referred back to the speech given by Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces, on October 24 last year in Vert-le-Petit regarding the transformation of the DGA. "In his speech, he pointed out that it is thanks to the DGA that the French armed forces now possess cutting-edge, reliable, effective, and safe weapons, a contribution that the President of the Republic himself praised during his New Year address to the armed forces on Monday. The Minister of the Armed Forces also recalled all the challenges that the DGA must face to adapt to a rapidly changing world, to adapt to the transformations offered by digital technology, and to adapt to an increasingly unstable world.
And above all, he reiterated, and this is the point I wish to highlight at the beginning of 2025, all the confidence he has in the men and women of the DGA."
MAINTENANCE OVERHAUL OF THE CHARLES DE GAULLE Then the General Engineer presented the challenges of 2025: "This year, we will get straight into the heart of preparing for the third major maintenance overhaul of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and the mid-life upgrade of the Horizon frigates, notably with the installation of new radars at SESDA, which will be tested before being installed aboard these vessels. And, since the Horizon program is in cooperation with Italy, we will also carry out trials for their benefit. Thus, with the preparation for ATM3, we will have 3 trial campaigns simultaneously on this site, an unprecedented situation that the teams will, I have no doubt, manage effectively."
He continued: "For the PANG, DGA TN will participate in a trials campaign lasting several weeks in the spring in the United States, at the US Navy land-based catapult facilities. This campaign is exceptional in nature since the last campaign of this type took place in the 90s for the integration of the Rafale on the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. This 2025 campaign will contribute to 'de-risking' the EMALS installations, the electromagnetic catapults, with the Rafale, and will help guide the subsequent work on aircraft-ship interfaces with a view to moving into the program's production phase scheduled for the end of 2025."
PYROTECHNIC TEST VESSEL In terms of technical resources, the director of the center announced the delivery at Mourillon of the new offshore pyrotechnic test vessel, the Balliste. "Its schedule is already very full since it is due to be used as early as spring for trials in the field of anti-submarine warfare and in the second half of the year for shock tests to improve our models regarding the vulnerability and sizing of future vessels of the Marine nationale.
In the field of drones, our goal is to open a first component of a state experimental center this year. The 'dronathlon' showed that we already know how to do things, and the idea is to capitalize on this feedback to institutionalize a first experimental site in Saint-Mandrier-sur-Mer. Since the uses and development of drones are so diverse, other sites will probably eventually complement this first building block, whether on the Mediterranean or Atlantic coasts."
In the digital domain, Nicolas Drogi agreed that we are living in a rapidly changing environment, with the creation of the Agence Ministérielle pour l'Intelligence Artificielle de Défense in 2024, and this year, with the creation of a commissariat au numérique de défense which will bring together a large part of the ministry's digital resources.
Photos by Philippe OLIVIER.