With the war in the Ukraine, France embarked on an ambitious war economy. A slogan, a utopia or an objective that the army, the DGA and the 4000 arms companies will be able to achieve? This strategy is under fire from critics, but since the summer, all the players in the sector are working to fulfill this mission.
This economy of war is based on the law of military programming (LPM) adapted to these ambitions. For the period from 2024 to 2030, it should be based on an unprecedented budget of 413 billion euros, Emmanuel Macron announced on January 20 during his wishes to the armies at the Mont-de-Marsan air base (Landes).
The doctrine of General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, is “to win the war before the war.” This war economy therefore requires the development of resources for the intelligence services, whose budget will experience an increase of close to 60%.
Even General de Villiers, ex-CEMA, who does not skimp on criticism of the Head of State who resigned him in 2017, approves the announcement of France’s entry into this war economy.
ammunition reserves
Since February 24, 2022, there has been a high-intensity war on the borders of Europe. This situation forces us to accelerate the modernization of the armies (land, sea, air, space and cyber), to provide them with the means to keep the equipment in operational condition and to recreate ammunition reserves to help Ukraine and to be able to face the conflict. high intensity.
In short, it will be necessary to recover in a few years the delay of several decades of budgetary economy by producing more, more quickly and at the best material and weapons price. Ammunition stocks are a very sensitive point. During the decades of peace after the fall of the Wall, they were “a variable of budgetary adjustment” reducing their amount to the strict minimum at risk, according to a parliamentary report published before the start of the war in Ukraine, of not being able to resist alone a few days if France were to become involved in a high-intensity conflict.
The war in Ukraine confirms this risk by highlighting the obvious: it takes more time to produce them than to use them. Every day the Ukrainian army fires 5000-6000 artillery shells, the Russian forces four times as much.
On February 15, a parliamentary report by the deputies Vincent Bru (Modem, Pyrénées-Atlantique) and Julien Rancoule (RN, Aude) raised the problem again, taking into account the economic and industrial complexity depending on whether it is a rifle bullet assault, guided missile or medium range projectiles. “The feedback from the experience of the Ukrainian conflict thus illustrates the many strategic advantages hidden in the constitution of ammunition reserves,” the two deputies point out. They advocate the need to “activate all the levers of the war economy to accelerate an increase” even going so far as to simplify “standards and requirements”.
A true industrial and technological revolution is taking place for the defense industrial and technological base (BITD), which is made up of a network of 4,000 companies, the vast majority of which are ETIs and SMEs. To accompany them and set a pattern, the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu and the General Arms Delegate (DGA) Emmanuel Chiva, meet regularly with representatives of the BITD.
At the beginning of February, during their third meeting, the message they gave was “produce quality material, in quantity and faster”. Strategic equipment production lines are already producing faster and faster.
Nexter will increase production of Caesar guns to 6 per month and expects to reach 8 per month by 2024. For the Rafale, Dassault Aviation has already increased production rates to deliver to export customers and allow the Air Force and Space achieve the goal of all Raphael.
The aircraft manufacturer’s 500 subcontractors keep pace. Thales wants to achieve a rate of 4.5 pieces of equipment per month, compared to the current 2.5. Rafaut, which provides Dassault with the Rafale tanks, will thus recruit around fifty technicians, half of them for the tricolor combat plane. The objective of producing more was complemented by the need to lower their prices in exchange for higher orders in favor of the next LPM, more than 100 million euros compared to the previous one.
The DGA must, for its part, “simplify its needs” and reduce administrative procedures to avoid additional costs. Keeping equipment in operational condition is another lesson from the war in Ukraine. The ministry now wants this point to be addressed from the order phase with the manufacturers and to report directly to the DGA and no longer to the different support services of the armies. To reduce dependence on foreign countries for certain materials and components, production must also be “relocated.”
The recruitment challenge
The acceleration of production will translate into the need to hire more. Like all other industries, defense must hire more to produce more, but talent is in short supply in all areas.
In their report, the deputies Bru and Rancoule point out the scarcity of profiles but also the complexity of training pyrotechnic workers in the production of ammunition.
In addition to the BITD, armies recruit professional soldiers, but also reservists for all components: land, air, sea, cyber, space, energy, weapons, and intelligence. This need was launched in 2021 by General Burkhard.
On July 13, during a reception at the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Emmanuel Macron announced the goal of doubling the number of civilian volunteers, increasing it to 80,000 to support the 205,000 soldiers in the French armies, which are already the largest in Europe.
The Ministry of the Armed Forces has created a working group to determine the missions and assess the needs of the reserve to take them into account in the next military programming law. This group is made up of soldiers, parliamentarians, union representatives (employees and businessmen). In order to achieve the goal of doubling the number of reservists, access conditions will be reviewed both in terms of physical capacity and age.
Source: BFM TV
