In charge of the Mirage F1, Mirage 50, ATL2, Super Étendard, Alpha Jet programs, Gérard Pierron became Director of Military Aircraft Programs in 2003.
Gérard Pierron, born in Dakar on March 21, 1944, was a student engineer from ESTACA’s class of ‘69 and joined Avions Marcel Dassault in August 1969, in the Experimental Aerodynamics department in Saint-Cloud.
He was very quickly put in charge of monitoring the aerodynamic tests performed at the CEAT test center in Toulouse for the Mirage FI slats.
In 1973, he was given responsibility for the wind tunnel in Vélizy. He completely overhauled the methods and test means and computerized the facilities.
In 1980, Daniel Lerouge, Head of the Weapons Systems division, made him responsible for processing information and displays for the ATL2. He was gradually given more and more responsibility and, in 1986, was named Main Department Head in charge of the Mirage F1, Mirage 50, ATL2, Super Étendard and Alpha Jet programs.
In 1989, he was put in charge of organizing the ATL2’s transfer from Toulouse-Colomiers to Mérignac, and then was named Assistant Technical Director for the Mérignac site, alongside Pierre-Louis Cambefort in 1992.
He was quickly reassigned to Saint-Cloud as second in command for the Weapons Systems division, alongside Patrick Pinganaud, in charge of all programs and, in particular, all Mirage 2000 and Rafale versions.
In January 1996, he was named Systems Technical Director. With his team, he adapted the on-board systems of our aircraft using the most up-to-date technologies. He developed the concepts of modular avionics and optimized development processes to reduce integration costs.
In October 2003, he became Director of Military Aircraft Programs and managed the Alpha Jet, Mirage F1, naval aircraft and Mirage 2000 programs. The risk management process he introduced made it possible to manage developments to our programs.
In 2005, he was also given responsibility for the Rafale program and helped with the aircraft’s operational entry into service in the summer of 2006. He managed the development and industrialization of the F3 standard.
Gérard Pierron was a knight in the French National Order of Merit and Aeronautical Medal holder. He passed away on November 28, 2016, at the age of 72.
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