Following the resignation of Bruno Parent, the Thales Board of Directors has co-opted Laurent Collet-Billon to replace him as a board member proposed the French State. Mr Collet-Billon's term as director will run until the end of the Annual General Meeting called to approve the 2015 financial statements.

Laurent Collet-Billon was formerly the representative of the French State's golden share in Thales; he has been replaced in that capacity by Bertrand Le Meur.

 

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Biographical notes

General (armament corps) Laurent Collet-Billon was appointed chief executive of the French defence procurement agency (DGA) by the French Council of Ministers on 28 July 2008.

Laurent Collet-Billon is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace and joined the DGA in 1974.

In 1987, he was appointed technical advisor for strategic, industrial and armaments matters in the private office of defence minister André Giraud.

In 1988, back at the DGA, he was appointed programme manager for the air-to-ground nuclear armament programme (Horus); then, in 1992, he took over the overall responsibility for the satellite and space portfolio. From 1994, he held several managerial responsibilities in the field of land armaments and electronic and computer systems.

He was appointed architect of the tactical and strategic mobility force system when this new position was created in February 1997.

In August 1997, Laurent Collet-Billon was appointed director of the DGA's observation, telecommunications and information programme office (SPOTI).

On 2 May 2001, the French Council of Ministers appointed him deputy head of the DGA and director of the weapons systems directorate, supervising all national armament programmes. He also served as French representative on the supervisory board of the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAr).

From July 2006 to July 2008, Laurent Collet-Billon was senior vice-president for defence and security matters at Alcatel-Lucent Group.

Laurent Collet-Billon was born in 1950. He is married. He is a Commander of the Legion of Honour, an officer of the National Order of Merit, and studied at the Centre des Hautes Etudes de l'Armement (CHEAr).

 

Bertrand Le Meur is a General Armaments Engineer (Ingénieur Général de l’Armement) and a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Techniques Avancées.

Since 1 March 2014, he has been head of industrial affairs and economic intelligence at the Strategy Directorate of the French defence procurement agency (DGA), with responsibilities spanning the entire scope of the defence industry.

He began his career with the DGA in 1990, first at the telecommunications and information department and then at the Programmes and Methods Directorate.

In 2001, he joined SFR, where he held a series of senior positions within the Networks Department.

In 2009, Bertrand Le Meur returned to the DGA as projects director to the Director of plans, programmes and budget; then, from 2012, he served as deputy director of industrial affairs for land and naval electronics.

Bertrand Le Meur was born in 1965. He is married and has three children.