France taps defense-industry retirees to keep arms flowing during war

PARIS — France is tapping retired defense-industry workers to create what it calls a “defense industrial reserve,” a pool of experienced labor that can help ramp up production of weapons and armament in times of need.

French armament agency DGA signed contracts with armored-vehicle makers KNDS and Arquus on Tuesday to join the program, which seeks to ensure retiring industry veterans can pass on rare skills to new hires, and head off a potential shortage of skilled labor should the country find itself at war.

The idea behind the reserve is to create a pool of skilled experts, from welders to model makers or engineers, that can be activated to train others or help boost production at their former employer or others, DGA head Emmanuel Chiva told Defense News at the contract signing in Paris. The principle is to prepare France for a return of high-intensity warfare, he said.

“We’re not at war, but on the other hand we must not be naive,” Chiva said “We’re preparing for a rise in strength, if only for the sake of our credibility, and so today we’re going to look for the skills where we can find them.”

After decades in which manufacturing has been shrinking as a share of the French economy, the country’s industry faces difficulties finding skilled labor. Nearly 1 million industrial workers are set to retire by 2030, according to a government report published last year.

Chiva said the automobile industry is another area that could be a source of skilled labor for French defense firms, and the DGA is already working with car maker Renault on the issue.

“We’re in the process of identifying pools of labor in civil industries,” Chiva said. “So I’m talking about Renault, but there are others which will enable us to fill this industrial reserve.”

The plan is “quite innovative,” and it piggybacks on France’s larger goal of doubling the number of defense reservists as part of the 2024-2030 military programming law, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Pierre Schill told Defense News.

“If ever there’s a need to mobilize, in the sense of deployed forces, we’ll also need to step up the pace in industry or to manufacture faster or differently,” Schill said. “So why not take advantage of the reservist status that already exists to extend it to others, to broaden the conditions of entry.”

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, countries across Europe are looking at how to boost troop numbers should they face high-intensity warfare. Latvia has reintroduced conscription, Germany is looking to introduce a new military service model next year, while the Netherlands is experimenting with a “service year” to draw young people into its armed forces.

Workers who sign up for the French industrial reserve program commit to 10 days of training per year to maintain and refresh skills, paid for by the DGA. The companies then pay for the costs of workers serving in a reservist role, Chiva said.

Reservists joining from industry must have French nationality and will have a military status as non-commissioned officers or officers, with remuneration at the same level as active military of the same rank. France is targeting a defense industrial reserve of 3,000 people by 2030.

“Obviously, based on what we know are the priority works today, we’re targeting qualified staff,” Chiva said. “We’re going to target scarce resources or expertise. It takes many, many years to train a qualified technician, be it a welder or other.”

The defense industry already faces issues with training and skills, so there’s an immediate role for the industrial reservists, according to the DGA head. He said France has some 4,500 small and medium-sized companies working in defense, of which 1,200 are critical, and those are the ones that may need extra workers to help with training, design and production.

Chiva cited the example of workers at KNDS who were involved in ramping up production of the Caesar artillery gun, who could contribute their experience to help smaller firms with fewer resources deal with bottlenecks.

Earlier this month, the DGA signed a defense industrial reserve contract with shipbuilder Naval Group. The armed forces had previously signed similar contracts with 3D-printing company Vistory, firearm manufacturer Verney-Carron, and with Scania for maintenance.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——法国正在招募退休的国防工业工人，以建立所谓的“国防工业储备”，这是一个经验丰富的劳动力库，可以在需要时帮助提高武器和军备的生产能力。

法国军备局（DGA）周二与装甲车制造商KNDS和Arquus签署合同，加入该计划。该计划旨在确保退休的行业老兵能够将稀有技能传授给新员工，并防止法国一旦陷入战争可能出现熟练劳动力短缺的情况。

法国国防采购局局长埃马纽埃尔·奇瓦在巴黎的合同签署仪式上告诉《防务新闻》，建立后备力量的目的是为了培养一批技能娴熟的专家，涵盖焊工、模型制作师和工程师等各个领域，以便在需要时能够调动他们去培训其他人，或帮助他们之前的雇主或其他单位提高生产效率。他表示，此举旨在让法国为高强度战争的回归做好准备。

“我们虽然没有处于战争状态，但另一方面，我们也绝不能天真，”奇瓦说道，“我们正在为增强实力做准备，哪怕仅仅是为了维护我们的信誉，所以今天我们要四处寻找所需的技能。”

几十年来，制造业在法国经济中的占比持续下降，如今，法国工业面临着技术工人短缺的困境。根据去年发布的一份政府报告，到2030年，将有近100万产业工人退休。

Chiva表示，汽车行业是法国国防企业可以获取熟练劳动力的另一个领域，DGA已经就此问题与汽车制造商雷诺展开合作。

“我们正在民用工业领域寻找劳动力储备，”奇瓦说。“我指的是雷诺，但还有其他公司可以帮助我们填补这部分工业储备。”

陆军参谋长皮埃尔·希尔将军告诉《防务新闻》，该计划“相当创新”，并且与法国更大的目标相契合，即根据 2024-2030 年军事规划法将国防预备役人员的数量增加一倍。

“如果需要动员，比如部署兵力，我们也需要加快工业生产速度，或者以更快或不同的方式进行制造，”希尔说。“那么，为什么不利用现有的预备役制度，将其扩展到其他人，拓宽准入条件呢？”

俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后，欧洲各国都在考虑如何增加兵力以应对可能出现的高强度战争。拉脱维亚已恢复征兵制，德国计划明年推出新的兵役模式，而荷兰则在试行“服务年”制度，以吸引年轻人加入军队。

奇瓦表示，参加法国工业后备计划的工人每年需接受10天的培训，以维持和提升技能，费用由法国国防采购局（DGA）承担。之后，各公司需支付工人担任后备役人员的相关费用。

从工业界加入预备役的人员必须具有法国国籍，并将获得士官或军官的军衔，薪酬与同级别的现役军人相同。法国的目标是到2030年建立一支3000人的国防工业预备役队伍。

“很显然，根据我们目前掌握的优先事项，我们的目标是招募合格的员工，”奇瓦说。“我们将重点关注稀缺资源或专业技术。培养一名合格的技术人员，无论是焊工还是其他技工，都需要很多很多年的时间。”

法国国防工业总局局长表示，国防工业目前面临培训和技能方面的问题，因此工业后备人员可以立即发挥作用。他指出，法国约有4500家中小型企业从事国防相关业务，其中1200家是关键企业，这些企业可能需要额外的人手来协助培训、设计和生产。

Chiva 举了 KNDS 公司工人的例子，这些工人参与了凯撒火炮的生产，他们可以利用自己的经验帮助资源较少的小公司解决瓶颈问题。

本月初，法国国防采购局（DGA）与造船企业法国海军集团（Naval Group）签署了一份国防工业储备合同。此前，法国军方已与3D打印公司Vistory、枪械制造商Verney-Carron以及负责车辆维护的Scania公司签署过类似合同。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。