2024-10-08 02:08:04
With a total of more than 500 Rafales on order, following a new contract signed at the end of August with Serbia for 12 aircraft, Dassault Aviation is also making the people in Normandy happy. Many SMEs, specializing in the aeronautical and space sector, benefit from it.
It must be said that the weight of this sector of activity in the region is far from negligible. As Fabienne Folliot, general director of NAE (Normandie AeroEspace), which brings together more than 170 companies, explains, “the sector represents around 24,600 jobs for a turnover of 4.4 billion euros. And the growth prospects are good because in the next two years we expect 2 thousand hirings per year”.
Obviously, the good figures of the Rafale alone are not enough to explain this situation, “but I would say that between 20 and 25% of our members are directly or indirectly involved in its production chain”, continues Fabienne Folliot.
Among these, Nicolas Voiriot, president of the Jacques-Dubois company based in Barentin (Seine-Maritime). He is a specialist in electromagnetic shielding to protect the device and its pilot from the waves. An expertise that goes back a long time, as the company was already working on the Mirage F1 in the 1960s.
“A multiplier effect”
“Today we supply equipment directly to the Dassault group, but also to its other suppliers, such as Thalès or Safran, who use our technology for their own production. It will then be used in the Rafale. For us these orders therefore have a multiplier effect on all stages of the rocket as we are also involved in the research and design of new products. »
With a beneficial effect for his company of 35 employees whose growth has been around 20% in recent years, with a turnover close to 5 million euros. “We plan – he explains – to hire between 5 and 10 people in the next few months. »
For others, contributing to the Rafale, even through the delivery of a small part of this technological puzzle, is also a business argument to make. «Be careful, for an SME there are no small markets», insists Alain Dulac, CEO of Factem, a company based in Bayeux (Calvados). It provides microphones placed in the pilots’ masks and a system of wireless headphones for maintenance technicians that allow them to communicate protected from the noise of the reactors.
“But even if the turnover generated is not colossal, being involved in an adventure like this inevitably has beneficial repercussions. It demonstrates our expertise and know-how. When it comes to defense, at no time do you have the right to make a mistake. Because a microphone is not a vital part of the aircraft when it is on the ground. But in the event of a breakdown in flight it becomes a real subject! », underlines the company manager who employs 85 people.
Like him, Guillaume Fevre, general director of Correge, does not depend on the Rafale to guarantee the turnover of a group that weighs 25 million euros, employs 230 people worldwide (one hundred in Normandy) and whose headquarters are located in Paris. sur-Eure (Eure). Specialists in extreme temperature sensors, its engineers have developed a suitcase designed to monitor ground pressure.
“It’s rewarding and a talking point for our salespeople”
“At a minimum, you need one for each device, which represents three to four days of work for a technician each time.” But for him, beyond this cutting-edge product, “it is very interesting to be associated with its image, especially since we have the aim of strengthening ourselves in the defense sector”. Beyond the development prospects, he sees another advantage: “For our employees it is gratifying to say that their company is one of the links that allow this magnificent aircraft that stands out from others to fly. And for our sellers this is a strong argument.”
All that remains today is to respond to fulfill Dassault Aviation’s orders. Its CEO, Éric Trappier, has already announced that he wants to increase the number of Rafales assembled every month at his Mérignac site to three starting from 2025, and then, if all goes well, reach four planes. “We went through very difficult times in terms of supply in 2020 and 2021,” recalls Alain Dulac, also vice-president of the Aero PME committee of the French aeronautical and space industries group. “Today is better, but it’s not over. We must therefore not relax our efforts to fulfill these orders which stimulate us at all levels. »
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