| Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement | |
|---|---|
 Hat of an Engineer-General, First Class. | |
| Active | 1968-present |
| Country |  France |
| Branch | Aerospace & Defence |
| Type | Corps of military engineers |
| Role | Management of Aerospace & Defence Programmes, Research & Testing |
| Size | 2000 |
TheCorps des ingénieurs de l'armement (French pronunciation:[kɔʁdeɛ̃ʒenjœʁdəlaʁməmɑ̃])[1] ([kɔʁdez‿ɛ̃ʒenjœʁdəlaʁməmɑ̃]) is a TechnicalGrand Corps of the French State (grand corps de l'Etat[ɡʁɑ̃kɔʁdəleta]),[2] aimed at providing theFrench Armed Forces with all appropriateequipment and supervising the FrenchAerospace &Defence industry.
The corps members are theingénieurs de l'armement ([ɛ̃ʒenjœʁdəlaʁməmɑ̃]) nicknamedIA in French. They are high level engineers and public servants withmilitary status, originating for most of them (more than 2/3 by decree[3]) fromEcole polytechnique[4] and trained atInstitut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE) (formationSUPAERO),ENSTA Paris, or other French or international universities.
The Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement's main employer (50%) is theDirection générale de l'armement (General Directorate for Armament).[5] The second half are employed in other bodies of the Ministry of Defence, in international Defence organizations (NATO,OCCAR,...), can be detached in French administrative bodies (CNES,CEA,ESA,...), or the French and European industry (EADS,Safran,Thales Group,MBDA,DCNS...).
The Corps was created in 1968 as a fusion of previous Corps of military engineers[6] recruiting atEcole polytechnique.
In 1743, the "Ecole des constructeurs de vaisseaux royaux" was created to train Naval engineers. The school is known today asENSTA ParisTech.
The role played by the Corps of Armament in the development of the French aerospace and defence industry, in particular with the logic ofGrands Projets (Concorde, Airbus,[9] Ariane,...), can be compared with the role of theCorps des télécommunications in the development of the French telecom industry (telephone, Minitel,...), the role of theCorps des mines, or theCorps des ponts with their respectiveGrands Projets (Nuclear industry, TGV,...). They illustrateColbertism, a French version ofmercantilism.
Colbertism dates back to the 17th century, influenced at that time by the Chinese system. French high public servants are nicknamed "mandarins", referring to their Chinese counterparts.
The French economistElie Cohen described the effects of French Colbertism in the field of High tech in a book entitled "High tech Colbertism - Economics of the Grand Projet" (1995).[10]
High tech Colbertism can be characterized by a prevalent role played in France by the Administration and theGrand Corps. A typical Colbertist mechanism is the "pantouflage" where top civil servants become Heads of French public companies. The word "pantouflage" cannot be directly translated in English nor in any Western language but can be translated in Japanese where a comparable mechanism exists. The Japanese word is "amakudari" ("fallen from the sky").
Engineer-General, Exceptional Class (IGCEA), relative rank asgénéral d'armée
Engineer-General, Senior Class (IGHCA), relative rank asgénéral de corps d'armée
Engineer-General, First Class (IG1A), relative rank asgénéral de division
Engineer-General, Second Class (IG2A), relative rank asgénéral de brigade
Chief Engineer (with two years in the grade) (ICA), relative rank asColonel
Chief Engineer Second Class (with less than two years in the grade) (ICA), relative rank asLieutenant-colonel
Principal Engineers (IPA), relative rank asMajor
Engineer (step 4 to 9) (IA), relative rank asCaptain
Engineer (step 2 to 4) (IA), relative rank asFirst Lieutenant
Engineer (step 1) (IA), relative rank asSecond Lieutenant