Written by Maral Kaplan
On May 13, Belgium’s and France’s Defence ministers, Ludivine Dedonder and Florence Parly signed contracts for the delivery of Nexter’s Caesar 6×6 NG (CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie de Nouvelle Génération) to the Belgian army.
After the choice of acquiring 34 new F-35 from the United States, Belgium is tuning to France for equipping its land forces. (Gosset, 2021). In November 2021, The Belgian government gave its green light to launch a public market to acquire a long-range precision mobile artillery. The decision to turn to France’s Nexter has been made given the Belgian land forces’ interest in the Caesar NG system. (Courtial, 2022).
Having invested 62 million euros into the project, Brussels expects to receive the howitzers by 2027. The French company’s Nexter’s Caesar NG is a 6×6 equipped with a 155mm gun, which is able to fire up to a distance of 40 km. The manufacturer assures that the system can be air transportable, through notably A400, IL76 or C17 military transport aircraft. The company indicates also that the Caesar self-propelled howitzer has the capacity of firing six rounds per minute and is operated by up to five soldiers. (Defense Brief Editorial, 2022). This delivery contract between Paris and Brussels is hence part of their strategic partnership, concluded in 2018 in the field of land forces. Cooperation is present when it comes to the modernisation of naval forces. In fact, Belgium will rely on two French companies, Naval Group and ECA, to renew its minehunters with six new ships for an estimated 1.1 billion euros. (Gosset, 2021).
Bibliography
Courtial Marie-Madeleine. (2022, May 14). La Belgique et la France signent le contrat CaMo 2 pour l’acquisition de canons Caesar. Defence Belgium. Available at : https://defencebelgium.com/2022/05/14/la-belgique-et-la-france-signent-le-contrat-camo-2-pour-lacquisition-de-canons-caesar/
Defense Brief Editorial. (2022, 16 May). Belgium buys next-gen Caesar self-propelled howitzer from France. Defense Brief. Available at : https://defbrief.com/2022/05/16/belgium-buys-next-gen-caesar-self-propelled-howitzer-from-france/
Gosset Olivier. (2021, November 1). La Belgique va acheter des obusiers Caesar à la France. L’Écho. Available at : https://www.lecho.be/entreprises/defense-aeronautique/la-belgique-va-acheter-des-obusiers-caesar-a-la-france/10343192.html
