About us

OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d'Armement / Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) is an international organisation whose core-business is the through life management of complex, cooperative defence equipment programmes.

The organisation was established by means of the OCCAR Convention which is equivalent to an international treaty. The Convention was signed in 1998 and entered into force in 2001.

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OCCAR- at a glance

Member States

The current OCCAR Member States are: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. For more information on OCCAR Customers (Non Member Participating States and Observer States) go to our Customer Page.

It is OCCAR's vision to be a centre of excellence in its business domain. This is underpinned by the implementation of a comprehensive business management framework, comprising a Quality Management System which attained the ISO 9001:2000 certification in July 2005. In 2017, the OCCAR Quality Management System was certified against the new ISO 9001:2015 standard.

Our customers

Membership Policy

In accordance with the Convention and the strategic goal of OCCAR to be a practical step towards a European Armaments Agency, European states are encouraged to strengthen their association with OCCAR through (Global) Letters of Offer (LoO) and Letters of Acceptance (LoA) to join OCCAR Programmes as Programme Participating States.

In this context, non-member States will be required to implement the required steps to grant the immunities and privileges and the arbitration provisions laid down in Annex I and II of the OCCAR Convention. This association will allow participation in an OCCAR Programme to the same extent as a Member State, without being bound to the considerable corporate obligations that come with full membership (e.g., financially, personnel, administrative, etc.). This association paves the way for growing participation in OCCAR Programmes.

An accession request may follow as a result of a significant and enduring OCCAR Programme involvement. Significant involvement in several Programmes including a major ^[1] OCCAR Programme beyond COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf), MOTS (Military Off-The-Shelf) or TDP (Technology Demonstrator Programme) is required, allowing for a foreseeable long-term commitment to OCCAR and ensuring a coherent interest of (prospective) Member States in the operational functionality of the Organisation.

The benefit of integrating new Member States will be demonstrated through a case study, which will be validated unanimously by the Board of Supervisors (BoS) and the incoming Member States. The possession of a developed national Defence industry or the potential for such industry would be advantageous. A joining state will be required to agree with the OCCAR Accession process and its requirements (invitation by the BoS, significant Programme involvement, ratification, indication on voting rights, acceptance of the OCCAR acquis). The BoS is not opposed to new Member States, provided that the growth is gradual and does not affect OCCAR's decision-making process. Interested states should note that the MS are currently discussing actions to ensure fast decision-making in OCCAR even with a growing number of MS.

[1] “Major“: Programme has a total Operational Maximum Financial Commitment of a minimum of 1. Bn Euro.

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