Paris, 5 October 2003: Under the high patronage of the French Minister for Defence, Michèle Alliot-Marie, the Assembly and the French Aeronautical and Astronautical Association (AAAF) are co-hosting an International Symposium on “Power Projection: European Prospects” from 7-9 October 2003 at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA), Paris, 32 Bd Victor, Paris 15.

Jean-Pierre Masseret, Vice-President of the Assembly and former French State Secretary for Defence, will be opening the Symposium with an address on the theme “The EU’s defence policy and the headline goal: recent developments”. The Chairman of the Assembly’s Defence Committee, John Wilkinson MP, will be taking part in a round table on European power projection capabilities.

This three-day event will bring together European and American government, military and armaments industry representatives to discuss operational requirements, current capability shortfalls and future equipment innovations in the context of ongoing and upcoming military missions decided by the European Union in the framework of its European Security and Defence Policy.

An autonomous capability to project power is the key to an effective conflict-management policy. Member States have decided to acquire that capability with a view to giving the European Union a key role in the field of international military crisis management. The Symposium will discuss how the requirements for effective power projection can be met.

The different round tables, panel discussions and working sessions of the Symposium will focus on:

o Operational requirements (speakers include Major General Herreweghe, Chief of Staff, European Union Military Staff, and Dr Corrado Antonini, President of the European Defence Industry Group (EDIG)
o European power projection capabilities (speakers include Jean Paul Gillyboeuf, General Inspector, French Armed Forces, and Vice-Admiral Alain Coldefy, Deputy Joint Chief of Staff, French Army)
o Observation and Surveillance (speakers include representatives of EADS, SAGEM, Thales and Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Systems)

For the air, army and naval components of power projection, three parallel sessions will be placing special emphasis on ground attack aircraft, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV), mini and micro drones, command, communication and control systems, combat helicopters, submarines and cruise missiles, aircraft carriers, armoured vehicles, combat in urban environment, ground-based countermeasure systems and nuclear, biological and chemical protection.

Speakers include Philippe Camus, EADS Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of GIFAS (air component), Luc Vigneron, Chairman of GICAT and of GIAT Industries (army component), Vice-Admiral Alain Oudot de Dainville, Major General of the French Navy and Jean-Loup Picard, Chairman of GICAN (naval component).

Participation for journalists is free of charge. Contract the AAAF to register: tel. +33(0)1.39.79.75.15; fax +33(0)1.39.79.75.27.
The Symposium programme can be downloaded at http://powerprojection.colloques-aaaf.com