The Nexter company factory, a subsidiary of the KNDS group, manufactures the 9 m tubes which will be used to fire shells around forty kilometers. Since the Russian invasion, the order book has been full.
It’s the kind of place that doesn’t like curious people much. You have to show your credentials to enter the site of the KNDS factory, located a few steps from the military schools of Bourges (Cher). Hundreds of little hands pamper 9 m long tubes, with a precision of the order of a tenth of a millimeter. The hits of the famous “camion equipped with an artillery system” (Caesar) are born out of sight, in vast hangars that don’t look like much. But once through the gates, an officer remains present throughout the visit, to ensure that no information deemed sensitive is disclosed.
A few tubes that are still rough-hewn, “rough outlines”, are waiting in the open air in the courtyard. These three-ton parts, made of a complex alloy, arrive straight from the Aubert & Duval factory in Firminy (Loire). Drilling, turning, reaming, lapping or even rifling… They are preparing to undergo around thirty operations and lose 1,200 kg, before being transformed into formidable pieces of weapons. After assembly on a vehicle, Caesar systems are capable of hitting the mark from around forty kilometers away, with the precision of half a football field.
The shots release phenomenal power, with a recoil thrust of 90 tons. Several instruments are therefore needed to guarantee the success of the tube. The factory also manufactures shock absorbers, “links”, which are mounted on a structure, the “sled”. The recoil is also absorbed by a “muzzle brake”, placed on the mouthpiece, and the whole thing is encased in a sleeve. All these parts are passed through an oven to avoid future glitches due to mechanical constraints. “Industrial secret”specifies Stéphane Ferrandon, head of the arms production department.
Smell of frying
The parts are also checked with x-rays, ultrasound and a magnetic field to detect the presence of unwanted particles in the metal. The tubes of the Caesar cannons designed by the company Nexter, a subsidiary of KNDS, are rifled on the inside in order to give a gyroscopic effect to the projectiles. This allows them to go further and be more precise. Again, these streaks are a well-kept secret. A smell of frying floats near some workshops, when whole oil is used as a coolant and lubricant.
Stéphane Ferrandon no longer pays attention to it. For him, it is above all “a strong scent of Caesar” which fills these hangars, over a dozen hectares. The production of these artillery pieces now represents two thirds of the cannonry’s activity, compared to 40% before the start of the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the factory must continue to produce the guns for Leclerc tanks, AMX10 and Jaguar light armored vehicles, Rafale planes and Tiger helicopters, as well as Narwhal turrets for the navy.
While order books are full, the manufacturing cycle for a tube has been reduced to six months, compared to nine previously. “Today, we are keeping up the pace”, affirms Stéphane Ferrandon, while around a hundred units were already produced last year. The site has notably reorganized its time slots. The line dedicated to tubes has increased to three to eight and never sleeps.
“The resources committed today meet demand, and there still remains a little reserve, but if demand were to double or triple, questions would undoubtedly arise.”
Stéphane Ferrandon, head of the weapons production departmentat franceinfo
The partner Aubert & Duval has not informed them of any tension on raw materials to date.
“We are not the only ones in this war economy”explains Sylvain R., interim head of this cannonry built in the 19th century in the heart of the country, far from the then threatening borders. “We have with us the entire defense industrial and technological base and 90% of our 2,000 suppliers are French, in our employment areas or elsewhere.” In total, since the start of the war, the KDNS group has invested 300 million euros of its own funds in Bourges, in order to support its rise in power by acquiring new machines, such as a large machining center.
Sheaves of fire
The workforce had already been in the process of being renewed since 2015, but the order book caused recruitment to jump. The Bourges sites employ 1,100 people (out of 4,900 employees in France) and their workforce should increase by 10% this year, explains the head of the establishment. KNDS relies on permanent contracts, temporary work, apprenticeships and even professional retraining, including a former banker. “After six months of companionship, we can leave people independently on a machineexplains Stéphane Ferrandon. But it takes a year and a half to be independent on several operations.”
The Nexter factory no longer functions like the arsenals of the early 20th century, when 20,000 people worked on this site. No line is dedicated specifically to the Caesar, and it is not mass-produced. The pace, however, has accelerated. The number of CDIs has been doubled on the line dedicated to welding, the most heavily used in the factory. Operators are also active in small spaces protected by a red curtain, which let out a few notes of the Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Sprays of fire splash on the ground.
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“It’s like an anthill and there are quite a few new colleagues”, smiles Olivier, an employee in charge of assembly, stationed on the last of the three lines. He has worked in this factory for eight years. “There are more and more people in the aisleshe says. Trucks are moving in and out of equipment…” Not without a certain pride. When a complete Caesar system, assembled on the truck, passed through the site on display, Olivier posed for a souvenir photo. He taped the photo to his workstation.
“If we have contracts with Ukraine or other countries, it’s because this product is perfect.”
Olivier, Nexter employeeat franceinfo
But before they are operational, these parts must be tested. “A brake on receipt from the DGA”, also displays a piece of paper taped to a part. Whether during or at the end of production, tests are carried out in real conditions, with real ammunition. They take place on the neighboring site of the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), which has a large shooting range.
“Clearly, the inhabitants of Bourges know when there are shooting tests. You have to live with it when you live in the city.”
Stéphane Ferrandon, head of the weapons production departmentat franceinfo
The Caesar systems are appreciated in kyiv for their precision and speed, which protects them from counter-battery fire. They also allow deep strikes, several tens of kilometers away. Ukraine has therefore already deployed 49 Caesars, including 30 supplied by France and 19 by Denmark. Nexter, during the visit, however, refused to say how many pieces had been lost in combat. Six more will be delivered “in the next weeks”, according to the Ministry of the Armed Forces, and France has said it is ready to produce 78 Caesar cannons in 2024 and early 2025 for Ukraine. Firm orders are still needed: France, at the head of an “artillery” coalition, wants these weapons to be financed by kyiv’s allies.
Aligned tubes
Last September, Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces, announced that it was necessary “connect directly” French industrialists to the Ukrainian army, to move from a logic of donations to a logic of orders. This also concerns the replacement of equipment. If the “links” – the shock absorbers – are long-lasting parts, with a life expectancy of twenty years, the tubes are on the other hand considered “consumables”. The French army considers that they must be renewed every 1,000 or 1,500 shots, but these weapons are pushed to their limits in Ukraine.
“We must now be able to repair them on site”, judged the minister, already five months ago. However, no Nexter employee is deployed in the country, the group explains to franceinfo. At least “Not yet”. The matter is still under investigation, and personnel, however, remain “close to the front”, including the hardware support site installed in Slovakia. Far from these discussions, Olivier is busy around several hits, lined up without further ado. They will soon be shipped to the Roanne site (Loire) to be mounted on trucks produced by the company Arquus (formerly Renault Trucks Defense).
A few kilometers further, on the KNDS site in La Chapelle-Saint-Ursin, nearly 500 employees manufacture shells for the Caesar. “Bourges is an important instrument of French sovereignty in terms of armaments”argues the head of the establishment visited, because it brings together both ammunition and weapons. “Few manufacturers in the world have mastered this torque. This is what makes us strong.” By December, the production capacity of 155mm projectiles could be doubled to 100,000 units per year. But after all, this only represents ten to twenty days of combat for the Ukrainian army.