AMX-10P
GIAT Industries built the AMX-10P tracked infantry fighting vehicle, one of the archive's legacy armored-vehicle entries.
Sources: GIAT history survey, KNDS France pageBuilt by archive
GIAT Industries Weapon Systems
GIAT Industries was France's state-owned land-systems builder from 1973, producing armored vehicles, artillery, guns, and ammunition before being reorganized into Nexter and later KNDS France. In this catalog it anchors legacy manufacturer facets for French armored and fire-support systems.
1 weapon systemsGIAT Industries began in 1973 as a French Ministry of Defense land-armaments grouping and became a company in 1991. Its industrial lineage runs through Nexter and, later, the 2024 renaming of Nexter Systems to KNDS France.
For this archive, GIAT Industries ties together legacy French armored-vehicle, artillery, and munition entries so older manufacturer tags stay readable even when current company pages use the KNDS France name.
Notable Systems
Leclerc tank
GIAT Industries developed the Leclerc main battle tank, which remains one of the builder's best-known heavy-armor systems.
Sources: GIAT history survey, KNDS France pageTRF1
GIAT Industries built the TRF1 155 mm towed howitzer, a key legacy artillery system in the catalog.
Sources: GIAT history survey, KNDS France pageBLG 66 Belouga
GIAT Industries is tied to the BLG 66 Belouga cluster bomb family through the catalog's legacy French munitions record.
Sources: GIAT history survey, KNDS France pageBuilder History
GIAT is established
A Small Arms Survey profile says GIAT Industries was established in 1973 as a subsidiary unit of the French Ministry of Defense's Direction Technique des Armements Terrestres.
Sources: GIAT history survey
GIAT becomes a company
The same survey says GIAT was transformed into a company in 1991, marking the transition from a ministry subsidiary to a corporate defense-industrial group.
Sources: GIAT history survey
GIAT becomes the core of Nexter
KNDS's history page says GIAT became the core of the new company Nexter on 22 September 2006.
Sources: KNDS history page
KNDS is formed
KNDS's history page records the association of KMW and Nexter on 15 December 2015 under a Dutch holding company based in Amsterdam.
Sources: KNDS history page
Nexter becomes KNDS France
KNDS announced that Nexter Systems S.A. was formally renamed KNDS France S.A. effective 8 April 2024.
Sources: KNDS legal renaming press release
Predecessors
Successors
GIAT Industries is a legacy name in a renaming chain that continues through Nexter and KNDS France, so modern references may appear under any of those names.
Builder Sources
- KNDS France pagePublisher: KNDS Group | Note: Supports KNDS France's current land-systems role, the catalog-relevant product areas, and the GIAT Industries creation history shown on the page. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
- KNDS history pagePublisher: KNDS Group | Note: Supports the 2006 GIAT-to-Nexter restructuring and the 2015 KNDS formation timeline. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
- GIAT history surveyPublisher: Small Arms Survey | Note: Supports GIAT Industries being established in 1973, transformed into a company in 1991, and the wider French land-arms industrial context behind the legacy builder profile. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
- KNDS legal renaming press releasePublisher: KNDS Group | Note: Supports the 8 April 2024 renaming of Nexter Systems S.A. to KNDS France S.A. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
- French Leclerc tanks at Smardan.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Image provenance and licensing page for the French Army photo used to illustrate a GIAT-built Leclerc product line; the file page states Licence Ouverte 2.0. | Accessed: 2026-06-21
Category
Infantry Weapons
Portable weapons used by soldiers and small units.
