OCCAR

OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) signed the A400M Parallel Mission System contract with Airbus Defence and Space on behalf of France's DGA on 17 June 2026 at Eurosatory. The contract covers development and initial integration of a permanent core computer, removable operator workstations, and an optronic electro-optical sensor on 20 French A400M transports. Installation is scheduled for 2027, with flight test in 2028. The system will enable ISR collection and multi-domain coordination across ground, helicopter, and fighter-jet assets.

OCCAR was established on 12 November 1996 by the defence ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, and gained full legal status in January 2001. Belgium and Spain joined in 2003 and 2005 respectively; the six formal member states now share an operational budget of approximately €6 billion. The organisation manages 17 programmes across their full lifecycle, including the A400M airlifter, the FREMM multi-mission frigate, and the Eurodrone. It employs over 300 staff at its Bonn headquarters under Director Joachim Sucker (since February 2023). Participating states that are not formal members include Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, and others.

OCCAR provides European governments with a shared contracting and programme-management capacity that individual defence ministries lack for complex multi-country procurement. By acting as the formal contracting authority for the A400M PMS, OCCAR gives France the ability to potentially extend the upgrade to other A400M operators, using a single contractual framework. As European defence spending rises sharply post-2022, OCCAR's role as a force multiplier for collaborative procurement is expanding alongside its portfolio.