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Qualifying manufacturers’ compatibility with aeronautical Defence

Business Case

Qualifying manufacturers’ compatibility with aeronautical Defence

For a regional aeronautics cluster, SURFEO assessed companies’ capabilities and maturity to guide their access to the Defence value chain.

Defence & SecurityAeronautics & SpaceSupply Chain ManagementAeronautical defenceIndustrial assessmentMaturityGrand EstSupplier qualification
Context & challenges

Objectively assessing the ability to meet Defence requirements

The French defence industrial and technological base relies on a network of 4,500 start-ups, SMEs and mid-sized companies, representing 220,000 direct and indirect jobs. This industrial depth makes qualifying potential suppliers all the more important.[1]

The cluster we supported brings together more than sixty industrial companies, technology transfer organisations, engineering schools and research centres. It wanted to distinguish the capabilities that could be mobilised from the gaps to be addressed before approaching prime contractors.

The brief given to SURFEO: carry out a compatibility assessment with aeronautical Defence and formulate adaptation pathways, both for each company and for the group as a whole.

Our intervention

A structured view of capabilities, requirements and pathways for progress.

01
Map capabilities
List the relevant know-how and industrial resources.
02
Assess Defence maturity
Analyse alignment with the sector’s specific requirements.
03
Conduct the interviews
Qualify ambitions and constraints with company leaders.
04
Recommend adaptations
Define market-oriented individual and collective actions.
Market

The Defence ramp-up is widening the need for qualified suppliers

Payments by the French Ministry of the Armed Forces to its resident suppliers rose from €22.9bn in 2023 to €27.3bn in 2025.[2] Industrial qualification, economic protection and cyber maturity are becoming key points of attention for subcontracting SMEs.[3]

Depth of the industrial fabric. The BITD (French defence industrial and technological base) brings together 4,500 start-ups, SMEs and mid-sized companies across the country.[1]
Requirements beyond capacity. The DGA highlights cyber maturity and the physical security of sites.[3]
The aeronautics challenge. In 2023, the sector accounted for almost 7% of French industrial value added.[4]
Payments to resident suppliers
Ministry of the Armed Forces · billions of euros
2023
22,9
2024
25,1
2025
27,3
Source: Observatoire économique de la Défense, EcoDef Statistiques, 2024 to 2026 publications.[2]
Outcomes

A decision-making basis for prioritising market-access pathways

Capabilities made clearMapping of the know-how and industrial resources of the companies analysed.
Maturity gaps identifiedA view of the adaptations needed to meet Defence sector requirements.
Targeted upskillingAreas for progress identified for local industrial companies.
Integration potential prioritisedThe players best placed to join the value chain in the short or medium term.

Assess how compatible your industrial panel is

SURFEO structures the assessment, prioritises the gaps and turns the analysis into a market-access roadmap.

Let’s talk about your project

External sources

  1. French Government, “Financement de la base industrielle et technologique de défense”, 18 March 2025. info.gouv.fr
  2. French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Observatoire économique de la Défense, EcoDef Statistiques collection, December 2024, January and September 2026. defense.gouv.fr
  3. Direction générale de l’armement, “Protection économique”, accessed on 28 October 2026. armement.defense.gouv.fr
  4. Insee, “L’activité aéronautique en France […] pourrait redécoller en 2024”, March 2024. insee.fr
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