The sub-companies are: The GIAT group was founded in 1973 by combining the industrial assets of the technical direction of Army weapons of the French Ministry of Defense.

In April 2004 the board of directors presented the public with a financial statement showing a profit of several hundred million Euros.

[4] In 2006, the THL-20 gun turret was selected by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for use on the HAL Light Combat Helicopter, incorporating the 20 mm M621 cannon.

[5] On 21 September 2006, then-CEO Luc Vigneron announced that GIAT would soon complete a corporate restructuring that had been planned since 2003.

In May 2014 Nexter bought two artillery shell manufacturers: Mecar in Petit-Roeulx-les-Nivelles Belgium, and Simmel Difesa in Colleferro Italy.

[8] On 24 October 2023, Nexter's Mecar subsidiary announced that it had found an investment of €15 million for a 155mm artillery shell production facility.

[11] In May 2024 the Belgian defense minister Ludivine Dedonder signed a contract with Nexter to buy 4,000 shells annually for the next 20 years.