Paris. 01 July 2021 The SIMMT (Structure intégrée de maintien en condition opérationnelle des matériels terrestres) has awarded Nexter and CKP Engineering a contract to test predictive maintenance on the Leclerc tank. The project was born in March 2020, a few months after the Forum Entreprises Défense (FED), during which CKP Engineering was hosted by the MCO-T and the GICAT in the show’s innovation area. The SIMMT wanted CKP to join forces with a military vehicle manufacturer to carry out a predictive maintenance experiment on the oil circuit of a vehicle. Wishing to instrument the engine of the Leclerc tank, CKP logically turned to Nexter to collaborate on the project.

In concrete terms, after the launch of a pre-study phase, this order enables the integration of HUMStype sensors and post-processing algorithms supplied by CKP Engineering on the engine oil circuit of a Leclerc demonstrator. After several days of testing, the data collected will be analyzed jointly by teams from CKP and Nexter’s Customer Services Department (CSD), who will publish their results in the fall of 2021. This type of collaboration, where a French industrial prime contractor and a young French company share their skills, is one of the objectives promoted by the SIMMT as part of the MCO-T 2025 strategic plan.

CKP Engineering, an innovative company founded by Julien Ferrazzo, is recognized for its powertrain architectures (engine, gearbox and transmissions). In addition to its network of experts and agile, highperformance industrial partners, CKP brings to this project more than 15 years of expertise in operational predictive maintenance solutions.

For its part, Nexter is relying on the technical expertise and experience acquired over the past ten years
in the in-service support of the Leclerc tank. By taking part in this experiment, Nexter also intends to
capitalize on its investments made as part of the ERMES program (2019-2021), which consisted of
deploying HUMS sensors on a fleet of 40 VBCIs in the Mourmelon and Canjuers training grounds. The
analysis of the field data is now shared with the French defense procurement agency (DGA) and the
SIMMT in order to optimize the management of this vehicle fleet.

Julien Ferrazzo, founder of CKP Engineering, is delighted with this partnership: “We are bringing
together the best of both worlds. More than a vehicle, Nexter brings us architects who have experience
in the field. Together, we are sure to succeed. Thanks to this fusion of know-how, we are able to adapt
maintenance to each tank. Nourished, unfiltered exchanges with total confidence from experts who
know the vehicle’s constraints perfectly.”

Michel Fornos, head of the innovation and training department within Nexter’s Customer Services
Department, believes that “this experiment has the great merit of showing the operational reality of
predictive maintenance, which makes it possible to consider its deployment on all or part of the fleets
in service.”