Corps de l'armement

Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement
Hat of an Engineer-General, First Class.
Active1968–present
Country France
BranchAerospace & Defence
TypeCorps of military engineers
RoleManagement of Aerospace & Defence Programmes, Research & Testing
Size2000

The Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement (French pronunciation: [kɔʁ de ɛ̃ʒenjœʁ də laʁməmɑ̃]) ([kɔʁ dez‿ɛ̃ʒenjœʁ də laʁməmɑ̃]) is a Technical Grand Corps of the French State (grand corps de l'Etat [ɡʁɑ̃ kɔʁ də leta]), aimed at providing the French Armed Forces with all appropriate equipment and supervising the French Aerospace & Defence industry.

The corps members are the ingénieurs de l'armement ([ɛ̃ʒenjœʁ də laʁməmɑ̃]) nicknamed IA in French. They are high level engineers and public servants with military status, originating for most of them (more than 2/3 by decree) from Ecole polytechnique and trained at Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE) (formation SUPAERO), ENSTA Paris, or other French or international universities.

The Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement's main employer (50%) is the Direction générale de l'armement (General Directorate for Armament). 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...).

Prehistory of the Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement

The Corps was created in 1968 as a fusion of previous Corps of military engineers recruiting at Ecole polytechnique.

In 1743, the "Ecole des constructeurs de vaisseaux royaux" was created to train Naval engineers. The school is known today as ENSTA ParisTech.

Corps of Armament and high-tech Colbertism

The role played by the Corps of Armament in the development of the French aerospace and defence industry, in particular with the logic of Grands Projets (Concorde, Airbus, Ariane,...), can be compared with the role of the Corps des télécommunications in the development of the French telecom industry (telephone, Minitel,...), the role of the Corps des mines, or the Corps des ponts with their respective Grands Projets (Nuclear industry, TGV,...). They illustrate Colbertism, a French version of mercantilism.

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 economist Elie 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).

High tech Colbertism can be characterized by a prevalent role played in France by the Administration and the Grand 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").

Notable members of the Corps des ingénieurs de l'armement

Heads of the Direction générale de l'armement

Heads of other public bodies

Top industrialists

Aerospace engineers

Grades

NATO
rank		 Rank insignia Grade Notes
Ingénieurs de l'armement Ingénieurs des études et
techniques de l'armement		 French English translation
OF-9 Ingénieur général de classe exceptionnelle Engineer general exceptional class
OF-8 Ingénieur général hors classe Engineer general special class
OF-7 Ingénieur général de première classe Engineer general first class
OF-6 Ingénieur général de deuxième classe Engineer general second class
OF-5 Ingénieur en chef (Armament Engineers)
Ingénieur en chef de 1re classe (Armament Design and Technology Engineers)		 Chief engineer
Chief engineer 1st class		 With more than two years in grade for Armament Engineers
OF-4 Ingénieur en chef (Armament Engineers)
Ingénieur en chef de 2e classe (Armament Design and Technology Engineers)		 Chief engineer
Chief engineer 2nd class		 With less than two years in grade for Armament Engineers
OF-3 Ingénieur principal Principal engineer
OF-2 Ingénieur Engineer 4th to 9th level for Armament Engineers
6th to 10th level for Armament Design and Technology Engineers
OF-1 Ingénieur Engineer 2nd and 3rd level f
3rd year at ENSTA for Armament Design and Technology Engineers
Ingénieur Engineer 1st level for Armament Engineers
Second year at ENSTA for Armament Design and Technology Engineers
OF-D n/a Aspirant Aspirant During the preliminary year of training at the armed forces and during the first year at ENSTA Bretagne or ENSTA Paris for Armament Design and Technology Engineers.

Notes

  1. ↑ Armament Design and Technology Engineers

References

  1. ↑ Décret n° 2008-941 du 12 septembre 2008 portant statut particulier du corps militaire des ingénieurs de l'armement
  2. ↑ Rapport Canepa–Folz au Premier Ministre sur l’avenir des corps d’ingénieurs de l’Etat, janvier 2009
  3. ↑ Décret n° 2008-941 du 12 septembre 2008 portant statut particulier du corps militaire des ingénieurs de l'armement, CHAPITRE II : RECRUTEMENT
  4. ↑ "Site de l'Ecole polytechnique - Direction de l'enseignement, Ingénieur de l'armement". Archived from the original on 2006-11-28. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  5. ↑ Site officiel de la DGA, Les ingénieurs de l'armement (IA) exercent des fonctions de direction, de contrôle, d'inspection et de coordination dans toutes les activités relatives à l'armement
  6. ↑ Site de l'École des Mines de Paris, 1968, Les carrières d'ingénieurs de l'armement, Lettre du Délégué ministériel à l'armement Michel Fourquet aux polytechniciens de la promotion X68 Archived 2008-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Patrons de France, Le corps du génie maritime se compose, à l'origine, des ingénieurs chargés de diriger la construction de vaisseaux et les travaux relatifs à ce service[permanent dead link]
  8. ↑ "site ENSTA, Le corps du Génie Maritime a fusionné en 1967 et 1970 avec cinq autres corps d'ingénieurs militaires, pour former le corps des ingénieurs de l'armement" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  9. ↑ Du Concorde à l'Airbus, de la stratégie de l'arsenal à la stratégie du marché, Pierre Müller, FNSP, 1985
  10. ↑ Le Colbertisme high tech : Economie des Télécom et du Grand Projet Hachette, Pluriel, 1992
  11. 1 2 "Décret n° 2008-941 du 12 septembre 2008 portant statut particulier du corps militaire des ingénieurs de l'armement." Légifrance. Version en vigueur au 29 août 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-29.
  12. ↑ [ "Décret n° 2011-1235 du 4 octobre 2011 fixant les indices de solde applicables au corps militaire des ingénieurs de l'armement, aux corps d'officiers de l'armement et au corps des ingénieurs militaires d'infrastructure de la défense." Lëgifrance. Version en vigueur au 29 août 2025.Retrieved 2025-08-29.

See also