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Under the responsibility of the Chief of Defence Procurement (DGA), the Defence Innovation Agency (AID), created in 2018, brings together the innovation initiatives and activities of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs.
It brings a new perspective: taking into account the changing context and collaborating not only with players in the defence industrial and technological base (BITD), but also with those in the civilian world, in order to identify and adapt emerging solutions, products or technologies for military use. The role of the AID is to take into account the acceleration of innovation, to speed up the process of understanding the threat or opportunity it represents, and to support it with appropriate measures. For example, the AID is setting up «innovation acceleration projects» aimed at rapidly testing a solution of interest, either as it stands or modified, in order to get it into the hands of users as quickly as possible.
In an interview with IHEDN, General Engineer of Armaments Patrick Aufort, Director of AID, discusses the Agency's missions, its relationship with the defence industrial and technological base and the civilian world, as well as the FID. Held every two years at Porte de Versailles in Paris, this forum is jointly organised by the AID, the Directorate General of Armament (DGA) and the Defence Information and Communication Delegation (DICoD).
Patrick Aufort began his career in 1994 in electronic warfare. Appointed architect of the Hawkeye brand (an aerial surveillance and airborne command aircraft manufactured by the American company Northrop Grumman) in 2002, he oversaw the delivery of the third French Hawkeye. In 2006, he became manager of the centres, telecommunications and command domains of the aerospace command and control system (SCCOA), then took over as head of the «Aeronautical Armament Operations» unit. Director of DGA Propulsion Testing in 2015, he took over as head of the AID in March 2023.
THE DEFENCE INNOVATION AGENCY: MISSIONS AND BREAKTHROUGHS
AFTER SEVERAL YEARS AT THE HELM OF AID, WHAT IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT CULTURAL CHANGE YOU HAVE INTRODUCED AT THE MINISTRY OF ARMED FORCES AND VETERANS AFFAIRS IN FAVOUR OF INNOVATION?
The biggest cultural revolution brought about by the Agency is to «do things differently». Its missions are to prepare the technological building blocks for future armament programmes, support emerging technologies in collaboration with the academic world, identify non-defence solutions and adapt them to our needs, and conduct forward-looking analysis of future threats and solutions.
And in this area, for example, we completely broke the mould within the ministry by calling on science fiction authors as part of the Defence Red Team (launched in 2019) in order to renew its approach to foresight. I think we really broke the mould with this experiment, which yielded very good results and is now being continued as part of the programme. Defence Radar, in collaboration with the DGA, which is a the transition to the Red Team Defence experiment.
Another example of this approach is the creation of the LAD Lab (drone and anti-drone laboratory). Faced with the difficulties reported to us by manufacturers in testing technologies in a jammed environment, the AID reversed the model: it created dedicated time slots where a jamming environment was set up, allowing all stakeholders to come and test their solutions in real conditions. This approach illustrates how the Agency is «doing things differently» to meet a need that we were not able to address systematically.
Thus, AID embodies a true cultural revolution, based on agility, collaboration and the ability to think differently in order to do things differently.
STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGICAL PRIORITIES
INNOVATION IS A VAST FIELD. WHAT TECHNOLOGIES (AI, QUANTUM, DRONES, ETC.) DOES THE AID CONSIDER TO BE THE MOST CRITICAL FOR ENSURING FRANCE'S OPERATIONAL SUPERIORITY OVER THE NEXT 5 TO 10 YEARS?
We did this work while preparing the 2024-2030 Military Programming Law (LPM). The Minister asked the Agency to identify the priority technologies in which to invest in order to avoid any downgrading. This work, included in the LPM's «innovation patch», led to the definition of ten major themes, which are: directed energy weapons, hypervelocity, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, the electromagnetic spectrum and extended electronic warfare, the adaptation of new energy technologies, discretion and stealth, quantum computing and quantum sensors.
These areas will be the focus of massive investment between 2024 and 2030, with the implementation of large-scale technical and operational demonstrators for the armed forces.
This does not mean that we are not interested in the rest. AID continues to support emerging technologies that promise to bring about disruptive change. For me, the next breakthrough, the one that could really change the game, is quantum technology. This is a turning point that we absolutely cannot afford to miss, particularly because France has an ecosystem of academic and industrial players of excellence, enabling us to aim for global leadership in two areas of quantum technology: sensors and computing, which offer a decisive operational advantage to those who master them first.
BEYOND TECHNOLOGY, HOW DOES AID INTEGRATE THE CONCEPTS OF SOVEREIGNTY AND RESILIENCE INTO ITS INVESTMENT STRATEGY, IN LINE WITH THE RNS PUBLISHED THIS SUMMER?
The AID fully integrates the concepts of sovereignty and resilience into its investment strategy, in line with the National Strategic Review (RNS) and its objective No. 11, which promotes academic, scientific and technological excellence in the service of French and European sovereignty.
This approach is in line with the 2017 National Defence and Security Review, which already emphasised the importance of supporting innovation and research, including in the civil ecosystem. It resulted in the creation of the AID in 2018, the 2019-2025 Military Programming Law, and then programmes such as France 2030, supporting dual technologies (digital, AI, quantum, space, seabed) that contribute to national and European sovereignty.
The AID also ensures the resilience of the BITD by assessing not only the technological quality of partner companies, but also their robustness and sustainability. It encourages players to diversify their markets beyond the defence sector to ensure their economic stability.
Finally, the AID places resilience at the heart of its actions, as with the «Resistance» call for projects, which aims to find solutions to combat disinformation for the benefit of all stakeholders, including the general public. But also, in its open-ended approach, mobilising all civil and military actors to strengthen national resilience in the face of future crises.
CURRENT CONFLICTS ARE PUTTING THE ’WAR ECONOMY« BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF INNOVATION AND AID IN THE BITD'S ABILITY TO RAPIDLY SCALE UP?
The AID plays a central role in preparing the BITD for defence efforts on several levels.
It supports concrete projects enabling the BITD to produce faster, at lower cost and in greater quantities, particularly through additive manufacturing or the search for substitutes for raw materials in order to reduce dependencies and strengthen the sovereignty and resilience of supply chains.
In light of the lessons learned from current conflicts, particularly in Ukraine, the AID is working to strengthen an agile defence industry that is capable of ramping up production quickly, manufacturing at low cost and adapting to developments on the ground within a matter of weeks. Today, for example, in the field of drones, on the Ukrainian theatre, every time one of the belligerents comes up with an innovation that makes a difference, that innovation is countered within a few weeks. AID challenges manufacturers to design open architecture systems that enable rapid innovation without long testing and validation cycles.
The Agency also encourages a culture of agility and continuous innovation by organising hackathons and challenges with manufacturers to challenge them and stimulate their responsiveness and adaptability.
Finally, this approach goes beyond the scope of the BITD: the AID also involves innovative civilian actors in order to broaden the range of solutions that can be mobilised.
THE DEFENCE INNOVATION FORUM AND THE ECOSYSTEM
THE FID IS TAKING PLACE THIS WEEK. WHAT ARE THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS EDITION? THE NUMBER OF CONTRACTS SIGNED, PARTNERSHIPS, A CULTURAL CHANGE TO PROMOTE?
The main objective of the FID is to bring together all stakeholders in defence innovation – institutions, industry, academia, investors and partners – to exchange ideas, share information and collaborate.
The event aims to showcase the innovation projects supported by the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, both completed and ongoing, through exhibitions, conferences and round tables, in order to explain how to work together and what cooperation mechanisms can be put in place.
The success of the FID is not only measured by the number of participants or contracts signed, but above all by the creation of synergies: when players meet, identify technological complementarities, unlock projects or initiate new collaborations.
In short, a successful FID is a forum where the ecosystem comes alive, where concrete exchanges between stakeholders lead to future projects and strengthen the collective momentum of defence innovation.
ONE DAY IS DEDICATED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, WHILE THE ARMY-NATION CONNECTION PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE FORUM. HOW DOES AID SUCCEED IN EFFECTIVELY MOBILISING THE CIVIL AND ACADEMIC ECOSYSTEM?
Yes, this day is fully in line with the AID's desire to open up, explain and share its actions with society as a whole.
It aims to showcase innovation projects and careers in defence, and to engage young people and the academic world around the scientific and technological skills needed for defence innovation. In total, the AID has 130 employees, and we do not expect to carry out all the innovation work for the Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs with just 130 people! Therefore, to achieve our objectives, we rely on a vast network of partners, called the defence innovation network.
It includes the DGA, military laboratories, institutional players, engineering schools, competitiveness clusters, industrial groups, as well as academic and scientific partners (INRIA, CEA, CNRS, universities), European players and NATO. Thus, the mobilisation of the civil and academic ecosystem requires this openness to cooperation and networking, embodied at the FID, where all these players come together to exchange ideas, collaborate and encourage vocations. It is a concrete way of strengthening the link between the armed forces and the nation.
WHAT MEASURES ARE YOU PUTTING IN PLACE TO ENSURE THAT DUAL-USE CIVIL INNOVATIONS QUICKLY FIND THEIR WAY INTO OPERATIONAL USE?
As I was saying, one of our main missions is to identify solutions in the civilian world and adapt them for defence purposes. To do this, we are implementing three main successive support measures:
- Detection and capture: this is the name of a dedicated unit that actively identifies relevant civilian solutions for targeted themes. At the same time, a one-stop shop, accessible on the AID website, allows any project leader to submit their solution of interest to defence directly via a simplified form and an interview with the agency.
- Experimentation: the solutions identified are tested in real-life conditions using various mechanisms: Lab LAD (drones and anti-drone measures), the Perseus programme with the French Navy, technological challenges with the Army, and the IDEM (Innovation for Major Exercises) mechanism launched with the Armed Forces Staff.
- Scaling up: once the experiment has been proven successful, the AID ensures that the solution is transformed into operational equipment for use by our forces. Since 2021, a dedicated budget has been allocated to finance this scaling up, under the joint governance of the DGA and the Armed Forces Staff, offering enhanced responsiveness. With this type of system, we are able to scale up 15 to 20 innovation projects per year.
Thanks to this comprehensive three-phase process (detect, experiment, deploy), the AID ensures the rapid transition of civilian innovations to the military field, thereby strengthening the effectiveness and agility of French defence.
THE IMPERATIVE OF RISK-TAKING
Defence innovation requires constant boldness. What message would you like to send to future leaders to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to tomorrow's defence?
I believe that the main message to leaders is to tell them: «Allow risk-taking.».
Innovation means daring, testing and experimenting, but it requires a managerial environment that encourages this boldness. The role of the leader is therefore to create conditions conducive to experimentation, where the risk is shared between the innovator, the manufacturer and the hierarchy, with each party bearing their share of responsibility.
Innovation also means accepting failure: an inconclusive attempt is not a failure, but a source of learning that allows us to discard an ineffective approach and open up new avenues.
Therefore, tomorrow's leaders must foster trust, responsibility and a culture of experimentation, enabling innovators to dare and build, together, the defence of the future.
