Bernard Buisson joins DCNS as Managing Director of DCNS India

Bernard Buisson has recently been appointed Managing Director of DCNS India. At a reception held in Mumbai, India, on 9 September, Bernard Buisson, the new director, was officially introduced to the Group’s Indian partners. Guests included representatives of Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL) and Walchandnagar Industries Ltd. (WIL). DCNS India officially opened for business in March 2009 under the leadership of Xavier Marchal. In taking this step, DCNS aimed to build close, long-term local partnerships and to extend its international presence in accordance with the Group’s strategy. DCNS India’s main missions are to support the naval shipyards and industries (Naval Technical Advice Department), to develop local services with Indian talents (Design & Marine Engineering Department) and to extend sourcing opportunities for both local and international needs (Sourcing & Purchasing Department). DCNS’s missions in India include:. • The production of six SSK Scorpene submarines by MDL (P75 programme) under a Transfer of Technology (ToT). • The local sourcing of equipment supplied by DCNS for P75 and for DCNS on global programmes. • The procurement of comprehensive engineering package & engine/reduction gear cradles to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) for four P28 ASW Corvettes (P28 programme). DCNS has already settled presence in India through the creation of DCNS India and built an industrial relationship with MDL. DCNS is conducting true technologies transfers at an unprecedented level for such complex naval platforms. “Sound foundations have been built and DCNS India is to expand its presence as a true local partner. I believe India and France have parallel visions in defence and energy engineering. We want to extend and enhance the very good partnerships initiated by Xavier and the team,” said Bernard Buisson. When asked on the P75 programme, Mr. Buisson said “One has to appreciate that the production of six state-of-the-art submarines through an extensive ToT - on a product incorporating such technologically advanced solutions - is a world first”. Bernard Buisson highlighted “Throughout its service life, a submarine needs to fulfill strong requirements (safety of the crew, acoustic discretion, reliability, availability…) while operating in harsh environments. Thanks to the efforts of all over the past few years, MDL has today absorbed the demanding technologies associated to the hull fabrication. Today, the outfitting works are on-going. These significant ToT achievements are indeed paving the way for the current P75 and future programmes. MDL and DCNS teams work well together. The ToT is going well.”