The French payload on-board the SVOM French-Chinese mission

The SVOM (Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor) French-Chinese mission is dedicated to the detection, localization and study of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) and other high-energy transient phenomena. We first present the major principles of the SVOM system including the alert system providing near-real-time GRB localizations to large ground-based telescopes. Then the paper describes the definition of the SVOM payload and more particularly the French payload composed of the ECLAIRs instrument, dedicated to GRB detection and positioning, and the MXT instrument, dedicated to GRB followup observation in soft X-ray band.