GRAMAT will nonetheless remain an exception

Armed arm of the Ministry of defence for the design, evaluation and acquisition of weapons systems, armaments branch committed a year in depth transformation which must translate into a reduction of almost a quarter of its workforce: 13,000 about in 2008, they must go to 10,000 by 2014, at the end of the current military planning law. Thus had decided the RGPP - the famous "General review of public policies". But beyond numbers crude and the inevitable territorial reorganization resulting, it is a new face with the DLM will develop at the end of seven years. The watchwords of restructuring Strengthening of the technical expertise and priority equipment. And the challenge is to manipulated financial masses: first investor of the State, the Directorate has spent close to 20 billion euros of orders this year for the industry, amounting to revised upward from the stimulus plan.

"Several reflections had been conducted in the past, without that ever we were to act." "We will build the DGA we need", summarizes Bruno Delor, Deputy General delegate in charge of the construction site. A major step as symbolic has moreover be taken Friday. This is to first January that was transferred to the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA, soon CEAA ) centre for studies of Gramat, Lot and its 250 employees. Specializing in the assessment of vulnerability and the effects of conventional or nuclear arms, the centre celebrates its fifty years this year. But with the decline announced support plan, retaining this strategic skills pool led to two hypotheses: scatter the teams within the DGA, or find a perennial anchor pole, the Direction of military applications of the ECA in this case, including work appeal to the same subjects (physics, validating models...).

A cost of EUR 230 million

"Gramat, it's 26 different articles." The CEA, the contracts are private law. "It was hard at first to pass because staff had the impression that you liquidate them," says its Director, Didier Besnard. Each employee with the opportunity, if he wishes, to recover its former status, the transfer was ultimately. And the DGA will now pay for the service.

GRAMAT will nonetheless remain an exception. If the number of test centres will be greatly reduced - 15-9 - no other out of the fold of the DGA (see opposite). At Bourges will be thus concentrated all the capacity dedicated to the army, and Bruz (near Rennes) all those related to information systems. The quality service will follow the same slope, with 25 sites in the term, against 49 currently. Closures are therefore programmed as in Vernon, Angers or Lorient. And administrative functions, which are called to be the strongest deflation (-40 by 2014), are referred to as closer as possible to those of the Department through some 70 defence including future bases ("Les Echos" of October 8). In total, the cost of the reform is estimated at 230 million euros, 150 million for the accompanying personal, detailed Bruno Delor. With, in the end, an economy of covered payroll to 100 million per year in constant euros.