Les Forges de Tarbes, the main French manufacturer of shells, in receivership

Les Forges de Tarbes, the main French company manufacturing shell bodies used in particular by the Ukrainian army, was placed in receivership on Monday October 26 by the Tarbes commercial court. The owner of the factory, Europlasma, had requested the opening of a judicial recovery procedure, paving the way for the arrival of a buyer for this strategic company in the arms sector. The Forges de Tarbes currently employ around sixty employees and produce the 155 mm shell barrels used by the Caesar cannons supplied by France to Ukraine.

The Europlasma group bought the Tarbes site in 2021 and promised to modernize this aging factory to increase production rates and reach a production of 15,000 pieces per month in 2025. The Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) contacted the Tarbes public prosecutor's office to “report recent management decisions of the company which seem to have precipitated the rapid deterioration” of its financial situation. Two other Europlasma sites are also in difficulty. Fonderie de Bretagne is in liquidation while the northern metallurgist Valdunes is looking for a buyer.

Cash flow problems

The group, initially specialized in the depollution sector, significantly increased its losses in 2025, recognizing cash flow problems due in particular to the “loss-making nature of the majority of its activities”. He announced in April his desire to sell his defense activities and said he was in discussions with “a French industrialist”. But eight months later, no announcement has come to confirm these first statements.