

The cluster will mostly involve regional industry, employing a strategy of targeted partnerships with national stakeholders. The participation of ENSTA Bretagne and the Ecole Navale, will enable it to capitalize on the skills of the schools’ researchers in defense fields. This initiative will open its doors to the best technological solutions from the civilian world.
The overall approach of ORION follows the French Ministry of Armed Forces strategy to support innovation, led by the Agency for Innovation of Defense (AID) in close cooperation with the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) (French Procurement Agency).
ORION will set up five workshops covering all the innovation support services for technological maturity and their integration into naval defense applications.
The first steering committee will meet on 15 May 2019.
Governed by the steering committee, the activities and projects of ORION revolve around the work conducted by five workshops which systematically bring together representatives of the partners :
The workshop pilots will maintain a plan of action which will especially highlight the progress of projects supported by the AID.
Innovation is part of the roadmap for transforming the Direction Générale de l’Armement (DGA) (French Procurement Agency) encouraged by the French Ministry of Armed Forces on 5 July 2018.
Within this context, after the creation of the Agency for Innovation in Defense (AID) in September 2018, attached to the Governing Committee of the DGA, responsible for bringing together all the stakeholders in defense innovation, driving forward the research, technology and innovation strategy of the ministry and all the innovation initiatives, in Autumn 2018, the DGA decided to encourage an innovation drive on a local level around its expertise and testing centers throughout France.
The objectives of the technological innovation clusters are to consolidate and encourage innovation within the local economic infrastructure (SMEs, start-ups, laboratories etc.), with the support of the Agency for Innovation in Defense, especially to identify the opportunities for innovation that would be useful for defense systems and weapons programs.
3rd innovation cluster launched by the DGA