PARIS - Needs in the Afghan theater and anti-piracy missions will drive France to spend 260 million euros ($388 million) this year on urgent operational requirements (UORs), more than double the 104 million euros spent in 2008, said François Coté, the deputy operations director of the Direction Générale pour l'Armement (DGA) procurement office.
The budget on UORs is expected to "peak" this year and spending will be "clearly lower" in 2010, Coté told journalists. The 2008 UOR spending also was more than double the 2007 figure of less than 50 million euros, said a DGA spokeswoman.
Purchases made under UOR rules reflect "choices made between the needs of today's war and tomorrow's war," Coté said.
As part of the DGA's efforts to speed up procurement of off-the-shelf equipment from allies, the office hopes to sign an agreement with the British Ministry of Defense this year or early next year to allow government-to-government orders, similar to the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, Coté said.
The pact would allow French purchases to be added to equipment orders placed by the British government, thereby avoiding "reinventing the wheel," Coté said.
UORs are officially designated acquisitions that have greater flexibility under French procurement laws. The acquisition can be made on a sole-source basis, a letter of command that gives legal cover until an official order is produced, and through the FMS regime.
For 2006, the 260 million euro total of UOR orders covers 36 orders already signed and those in the pipeline, Coté said. The new orders include six equipment contracts intended to boost force protection, nine for communications and 21 for combat capabilities.
Among the orders are 15 pod-mounted 20mm cannons from Nexter Systems for arming Puma/Cougar and Caracal helicopters, 10 Damocles targeting pods from Thales and 25 Rover targeting video terminals. The 20mm cannon can be retracted in their pods to give a "normal appearance," but can deliver firepower beyond the range of small-caliber weapons.
The Rover gear would be fitted on the Mirage-2000D, modernized Super Etendard and Rafale fighter jets, as well as the SIDM medium-altitude long-endurance UAV and eventually the SDTI tactical drone.
The range of aircraft on which the Rover will be fitted is wider than expected, a defense official said. Integration of the terminals could be done by industry or by workshops of the French Air Force.
The Damocles pods, from Thales, are due to be delivered in 2011 and 2012 to the Air Force. The Navy already has received a first batch of the pods.
For communications, the DGA has ordered 10 Venus active satellite antennas from Thales for armored VAB command vehicles. The antennas allow soldiers to communicate on the move, instead of stopping and raising an antenna. "This offers an evident reduction in vulnerability," Coté said.
The two FMS deals are for the PRC-52 tactical radio, which offers interoperability with American forces, and the Rover terminal from L-3 Communications.
Up-armor kits made of lightweight composites for helicopters, remote weapon stations and armored truck cabins were among the UOR purchases. Equipment to counter IEDs continues to be a big theme in UORs.
As part of stepped-up anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, the DGA ordered infrared surveillance cameras for the Navy's La Fayette-class frigates.
The purchase of a medium-range antitank missile for the Army for the Afghan theater is not a UOR, but a procurement that has been speeded up, Coté said.
Rafael last month submitted an unsolicited offer for the Spike anti-tank missile, at just more than half the estimated 70 million euro budget for the medium-range weapon, an executive with the Israeli company said, confirming a report in a specialist publication, Air & Cosmos.
An MBDA executive said meetings were held here the week of Nov. 2 with the Javelin missile joint venture companies, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The joint venture and the U.S. Army have proposed the U.S. weapon to the French government.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
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