Nexter Systems, formerly known as GIAT Industries, is a French firearm company.
History[]
The GIAT group was founded in 1973 by combining the industrial assets of the technical direction of Army weapons of the French Ministry of Defense, and was nationalized in 1991. On 22 September 2006, GIAT became the core of the new company, Nexter.
For many years GIAT, struggled to turn a profit. The company however, was operated at a loss. A 2001 report by the Cour des Comptes and a 2002 report by the National Assembly described the situation as critical. Not until April 2004 did the board of directors present the public with a financial statement showing a profit of several hundred million Euros. This was mainly due to increased export sales, and the modernization of their LeClerc main battle tank.
Nexter has a Joint Venture CTA International with BAE Systems to develop and manufacture case telescoped weapon systems and ammunition of 40 mm caliber.
Nexter continues to produce several former GIAT small arms, cannon, and anti-armor weapons. One such weapon is the Wasp 58, a low cost, one man anti-armor/assault weapon system.
In 2015 a merge was settled between Nexter and Krauss-Maffei, a German defense manufacturing company. The result of this merger would be the most powerful defense manufacturing company in Europe.
Products[]
Nexter manufactures vehicles and firearms, among other things. Their notable firearms are: