GICAT is an association of French industrial organisations involved in land and air/land defence which supply equipment and services to armies and security forces. At the present time, it comprises 170 companies in five sectors: vehicles and armoured vehicles, weapons and ammunitions, electronics and air/land command and communications systems (UAVs, helicopters and missiles), services and training. French land and air/land companies have a combined turnover of e3.9 billion and employ 16,000 people.

GICAT is entirely representative of the French air/land Defence Technological and Industrial Basis (DTIB). It can respond quickly to all the requirements of the operational armed forces. It is fully involved in R&D in order to provide ground forces with the operational edge they need to satisfy present and future combat requirements.

Today, the land and air/land defence industry is evenly balanced between large, medium and small companies (80 per cent of GICAT members are SMEs (small and medium-sized businesses). They offer a full range of products and expertise covering the entire battlefield spectrum for land forces. With large worldwide organisations as well as many innovating SMEs, this DTIB thus has the ability to develop complex solutions or position itself as a system of systems integrator (SOSI), to manufacture dual-use equipment, to form long-term projects and to respond to emergency operational requirements. Its recognised high technological expertise compares favourably with the United States in many key areas.