Taking advantage of favourable circumstances is important in business. On 12th June, EDA recognised the significant opportunity arising from the European land defence industries gathering in Paris for the EuroSatory exhibition and conference to mount a half day conference on the timely subject of "The European Land Sector: Preparing the Future."
Opening the conference, which was attended by over 150 senior officers and executives from across the continent, EDA Chief Executive Claude France Arnould painted a clear and compelling vision of the importance of land systems to both armed forces and the defence industry. "Land systems are the most deployed of all defence systems, producing €16 billion in revenues and directly supporting 90,000 jobs," she said. In addition, she pointed out that the sector accounts for 25% of all defence expenditure and that the fragmented nature of the industry highlights "the need for co-operation, which we still lack."
The Agency attracted highly relevant speakers to address the themes of the conference, who presented a wide variety of views and conclusions, which seemed to resonate with the attentive audience. Lieutenant General Ton van Loon, commander of 1 DE/NL Corps, made a spirited case for urgent closer collaboration, stressing that "training is where smart procurement begins." Lieutenant General Patrick Nash, former commander of the EUFOR operations in Chad, gave graphic examples of the consequences of failing to meet the challenges presented by logistics, provision of spare parts and interoperability, ending on a sombre note by pointing out that "medical support, or the lack of it, can be a showstopper for any operation."
The thirteen separate presentations made during the half day event covered a broad spectrum of issues and points of view, covering three key issues: operational needs, the challenges to fulfill them and potential solutions. There were, however, two obvious overriding themes that ran through all the opinions, points of view and perspectives the audience were presented with.
The first is that pooling and sharing, in which EDA has played and continues to play such a leading role, is no longer an option – it is a vital necessity. The second – that there is much work to be done in stimulating and nurturing the political will necessary to make better pooling and sharing a reality - was summarised by General Vincenzo Camporini, former Italian Chief of Defence, who said "we have to fight against the bureaucracies, or we will be unable to deliver the capability and effect our political masters demand of us."
General Camporini brought the conference to a close with a second powerful and pertinent observation. "If we want to be relevant in defining our own future, we must find a way to collaborate and pool our resources. The EDA is leading us towards this future, and we have to follow their efforts to drive commonality, harmonisation and sharing. This is the only way to keep Europe relevant in history."
The conference was a milestone in EDA’s Future Land Systems initiative, which focusses on the Key Industrial Capabilities to be preserved and developed in Europe to realize the necessary military capabilities in future.
