KNDS confirms its ambitions in Belgium by appointing Christophe Monnier as first Managing Director in a European country. Mecar, a company of KNDS, thus reasserts its presence in Belgium and its ambition to grow.
As Managing Director for KNDS in Belgium, Christophe Monnier is one of the key contacts for the Belgian Armed Forces. He is responsible for establishing the Group’s strategy locally and advising KNDS management on development opportunities.
Established in Belgium since 1938, Mecar, a company of KNDS has over 200 employees. Being the major supplier of ammunition to the Belgian Army, Mecar aims to expand into systems and support activities, in addition to its ammunition expertise. By 2022, the company has achieved sales of €100 million, and is on course to achieve the same figure by 2023.
Today, Mecar is a major stakeholder in the CaMo programme, in light of all the company’s activities involved. In addition to its support for the Belgian Armed Forces, Mecar is assisting the Belgian Ministry of Defence in its support for Ukraine.
Aged 54 and a resident of Belgium for almost 20 years, Christophe Monnier holds a PhD in organic and macromolecular chemistry and an Executive MBA from ESSEC business school.
After holding positions as Supply Chain Director at Gantrex, Plant Manager at Staub and Managing Director at Carwall, he has been Managing Director of Mecar since May 2019.
KNDS (KMW+NEXTER Defense Systems) is the result of the association of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Nexter, two of the leading European manufacturers of military land systems based in Germany and France.
KNDS forms a Group of around 9,000 employees, with a 2022 turnover of 3.2 billion euro, an order backlog of around 11 billion euro and incoming orders of 3.4 billion euro. The range of its products includes main battle tanks, armored vehicles, artillery systems, weapons systems, ammunition, military bridges, customer services, battle management systems, training solutions, protection solutions and a wide range of equipment.
The formation of KNDS represents the beginning of consolidation in land defense systems industry in Europe.
The strategic alliance between KMW and Nexter enhances both groups’ competitiveness and international positions, as well as their ability to meet the needs of their respective national army. In addition, it offers to its European and NATO customers the opportunity of increased standardization and interoperability for their defense equipment, with a dependable industrial base.
KNDS headquarters are based in Amsterdam.
