Les Forges de Tarbes were placed into court-ordered receivership on Monday by the Tarbes commercial court, according to information from BFM Business. The company, the only factory in France making shell bodies for Caesar guns, currently employs around sixty staff. It produces 155 mm shell casings used by these guns, which France supplies to Ukraine.
The site's owner, the Europlasma group, had itself requested the opening of this procedure. The Direction générale de l'Armement (DGA) referred the matter to the Tarbes public prosecutor's office, flagging « des décisions de gestion récentes de l'entreprise qui semblent avoir précipité la dégradation rapide » in its financial situation.
A group already weakened
Europlasma had bought the Tarbes site in 2021. The group, initially specialised in decontamination, saw its losses widen sharply in 2025, attributing its difficulties to the « caractère déficitaire de la majorité de ses activités ». Other sites belonging to the group are going through turbulence: the Fonderie de Bretagne is in compulsory liquidation, while the northern France metalworker Valdunes is still looking for a buyer.
Europlasma had announced in April its intention to sell off its defence activities, saying it was in talks with « un industriel français ». Eight months later, no announcement has come to confirm these initial statements.
The path towards a buyer
The procedure opened on Monday is now meant to pave the way for a buyer for this company, seen as strategic in the defence sector. The stakes go beyond the industrial dimension alone: Les Forges de Tarbes remains, to date, the sole French supplier of shell bodies for the Caesar guns deployed in support of Ukraine.
