Safran

France
Battle begins to equip army's tactical drones with intelligence equipment

A quiet but fierce competition is underway to equip the French army's new Safran tactical drone system (SDT), set to be delivered by the end of the year after being delayed for years, with electronic warfare equipment.

France
ADIT goes after Sofema and DCI

Acquiring former procurement office Sofema would significantly increase corporate intelligence group ADIT's stake in foreign armies training specialist DCI. But to take control of the latter, ADIT, majority owned by the Sagard fund, must convince the French state to give up some of its shares.

France
Safran overtakes L3 in the final stretch to win French spy plane camera contract

L3Harris, the US group which produces the Wescam camera, had been the favourite but, in the end, France's Vador intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft will be fitted with Safran's Euroflir 410 cameras. One plane is already in service over Romania but is not fully equipped.

The Corporate Intelligence Village Voice
Bilal Sen, Audere, EuroSatory

Appointments, financial results, new contracts: each week, we report on events both big and small that matter in the global corporate intelligence community. This week, we go to Cologne, London and Copenhagen.

Cologne Turkish ex-cyber police official moves into German corporate intelligence

London Audere recruits new managing director

Copenhagen C. Corner and AC Defence eye French market

France, Japan, United Kingdom
Audere ups its game with new Asia-focused consultants

Oliver Blackmore earlier this year completed taking over Audere International, a corporate intelligence firm founded by his father Charles Blackmore. He is now stepping up recruitment of consultants internationally, particularly in Asia, to strengthen his company's presence there.

Spotlight | France, Indonesia
French defence companies pick their way through obstacle course in Jakarta

Foreign defence companies have their work cut out in an Indonesian defence market rife with political rivalry and corruption allegations.

France
Safran still pushing for its optronic surveillance ball to feature in French ISR plans

The French defence group Safran, seeking to benefit from the stepping up of French intelligence programmes, hopes that its Euroflir 410 optronic pod can triumph over its US rival Wescam.

Spotlight | Russia, Syria
Syria has long wait for Russian MiG-29

A recent Moscow ruling about non-payment of VAT by Russian Aircraft Corporation has lifted the lid on a contract to supply MiG to Syria.

Spotlight | France
Russia-Ukraine war prompts France to patch over deep intelligence gaps

The Ukraine conflict has forced France, like Germany, to rethink its 2023 defence budget in order to funnel more funds into special operations and intelligence equipment. Each agency and branch of the army is compiling its list of urgent requests.

France, Saudi Arabia
Couach back in Saudi shipbuilding game

The French shipbuilder is back in the Saudi game after signing a memorandum of understanding with International Maritime Industries at the World Defense Show in Riyadh. The move marks a return to grace for Couach after years in the Saudi wilderness.

France
France's Share My Space promotes tools for safe space navigation

The increasing number of space objects above Europe's skies is becoming as much a safety issue as a logistical hurdle that Share My Space would like to address. The French start-up is bidding on a space surveillance tender financed by the government.

France, Iraq, United States
Potential Iraqi Rafale purchase publicised by Norman Ricklefs unlikely to fly

The Australian consultant who has long made Iraq his home caused a stir in the world of French defence last week with remarks that Baghdad wants to purchase Rafale jets and drones from France. In Paris, however, the project is still very much in its infancy, even almost non-existent.

China, France
Softball report on France-China relations embarrasses parliament

The Foreign Affairs Committee of France's National Assembly appears embarrassed by the upcoming publication of a very cautious report on relations between France and China. Intelligence Online was able to read the report, which only briefly mentioned security issues.

Egypt
Business diplomacy firm Nigma plays key role in Franco-Egyptian defence relations

The consulting firm Nigma Conseil, which works with the likes of MBDA, Dassault and Naval Group is among more than 30 French companies exhibiting at Egypt Defence Expo in Cairo, which opens on 29 November.

Africa, France
Prométhée offers custom-made geospatial intelligence platforms to Gulf and African clients

Drawing on chairman Olivier Piepsz's extensive business network, the French geospatial intelligence start-up Prométhée has locked in a string of partnerships with players in the French space sector and is now attracting prospective clients in the Gulf and Africa.

Israel
Uvision tries to break into Russian neighbours' skies

While its US expansion is on a roll, the Israeli tactical drone and Smart Loitering Systems manufacturer Uvision has turned its gaze to northern Europe - and just as it's facing an unprecedented cyber threat.

France
French commandos drop interminable parachute programme

The SMTCOPS programme entrusted to Safran in August 2016 is intented to provide French special forces paratroopers with new state-of-the-art parachute systems. But with it facing delays, some units have bypassed the defence procurement agency (DGA) and turned to other suppliers.