Military MRO In France: “Moving Towards A Combat Maintenance & Repair Plan” (I of II)

By Murielle Delaporte - Highlights of the second panel entitled “Preparing For Conflict: Economy of Aerospace Operational Support Services”

This second panel, moderated by Jean Belin, researcher in economy and defense at Bordeaux University, featured the following speakers:

• Brigadier General Martial Langlois, Deputy Director of the French Ministry of Defence's Aviation Maintenance Division (DMAé);
• Ingénieur Général de l'Armement Yannick Cailliez, Director of the Service Industriel de l'Aéronautique (SIAé);
• Ingénieur Général de l'Armement Thierry Rouffet, Deputy Head of the Defense Industry Division - Industrial Orientation Department, DGA;
• Bruno Chevalier, General Manager, Military Support, Dassault Aviation;
• Emeric Tamboise, Vice President, Support and Customer Service for Military Aeronautics, Thales;
• Sébastien Fabre, MCO/MRO Program Director, Senior Advisor “Aeroline”, Sopra Steria;
• Olivier Tillier, Director of French Military Support, Airbus Helicopters.

With the specter of the combination of a large scale operation and high intensity conflict (HI), the way to conduct warfare and business in France is evolving. Given “the French specificity of a defense industry that is an integral part of its defense posture”, it is logical that key military MRO players reflect on how to adapt the working methods of the “technical-industrial pole”, which includes both industries and government ^[1].

The aim of this panel was for each of the speakers to answer the question asked by Jean Belin in introduction, namely: “What is the impact of high intensity and the return of symmetry between adversaries since the outbreak of war in Ukraine within your entity?”

Their presentations and answers revolved around four major themes:

1. mobilizing resources to ensure the ramp-up of production and regeneration capacities;
2. optimizing existing solutions thanks to the existence of a dual-purpose industrial base;
3. the urgent need to lighten the peacetime regulatory straitjacket in order to optimize the ratio between maintenance hours and flight hours, and thus reduce aircraft downtime;
4. national autonomy in terms of resources as an essential condition for dealing with HI.

This first part deals with the mobilization of resources to ensure the ramp-up of production and regeneration capacities.

1. Conditions For Ramping Up French Military Aerospace Production Capacity

For General Langlois, representing the DMAé, the first consequence of the return of a powerful, symmetrical adversary, and the need to cover the full spectrum of “peacetime - crisis - major engagement” scenarios, is the need to deploy considerable resources, such as aircraft, UAVs, systems of systems and MRO equipment.

Generally speaking, increasing the number of aircraft deployed and the level of aeronautical activity implies a greater mobilization of forces and manufacturers to increase technical production rates and smooth logistical processes, but also to avoid disruptions in the routing of spare parts (industrial logistics versus operational logistics), with an increase in human resources as a prerequisite.

Such a major ramp-up in production capacity will also have to take place against a backdrop of disruption and overload of maintenance cycles and flows, given the priority to be given to repairing damaged war material.

The risk of attrition in the event of high intensity is also to be especially high and needs to be taken into consideration. In addition, the hybrid nature of warfare in the 21st century means that communications networks - in addition to physical threats - may be compromised, further exacerbating the pressure on industrial facilities.

In order to meet the challenges associated with the concept of a “war economy” that such a context can induce, a new “ defense industry department” was created within the French Acquisition direction (DGA): the new division was “ created last March as part of the ‘Impulsion DGA’ project, by merging the Industrial Affairs and Economic Intelligence Department and the Quality Department ”, explains IGA Thierry Rouffet^[2].

Its primary objective is to gain a better “ understanding of the defense industrial and technological base, in order to protect it”, both in terms of its non-sovereign dependencies - by better regulating foreign investment in France - and in terms of cyber threat, which needs to be better taken into account.

“ Produce more, faster and better “ is the DGA's new mission to support companies in improving their ‘ industrial performance ’. The creation of the “Defense Accelerator” with BPIFrance is part of this approach^[3], as is the introduction of a “ DGA one-stop shop for all contractors, whatever their size ”.

As far as the SIAé and its five AIAs (aeronautical industrial workshops) – which employ a total of 4,900 persons - are concerned, they do offer renewed advantages in a high-intensity context. Indeed, HI cruelly requires “ a cooperative dialogue and collaborative work between all MRO players ”, as called for by its director, IGA Yannick Cailliez.

As he emphasized in the introduction to his presentation, a military exercise such as Orionis, implemented by the French Air Force and Space, brings these various civilian and military partners together^[4].

This type of dialogue, based on operational experience, helps to optimize MRO plans and identify not only the type of spares whose availability needs to be increased, but also repair solutions specific to high-intensity operations.

Repairing “as close to the aircraft as possible”, so as to keep NTi3 flows to a minimum [Editor's note: i.e. the industrial support done on industrial sites] is essential in such a context and requires, in the opinion of the engineer, “on-site SIAé deployment” and new NSO training to enable the latter to strengthen its role as a “partner for the armed forces to fly ” to meet the latter's needs and remain relevant in the face of a HI hypothesis.

Notes :
^[1] General (2S) Jean-Marc Laurent
^[2] Editor’s note: See on this subject >>> https://www.defense.gouv.fr/economie-guerre-produire-plus-plus-vite-defi/industriels-doivent-anticiper-investir-maintenant-leur-outil
^[3] Editor's note: the first “Defense Accelerator” program was launched in March 2024 and brings together 28 SMEs >>> https://www.defense.gouv.fr/dga/actualites/lancement-laccelerateur-defense-partenariat-bpifrance
^[4] Editor’s note: see on this subject >>> https://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/actualites/maintien-condition-operationnelle-aeronautique-soyons-prets-reactifs-efficaces

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