From this Monday, May 22, the debates in the National Assembly to provide the armies with the 413 billion necessary for their operation and modernization in the period 2024-2030 will be bitter.
Unlike the other military programming laws (295,000 million for the previous one), the one under discussion takes place in a very tense context due to the war in Ukraine, the terrorist threat, the strategic competition between the great powers in space and the seafaring funds and the strengthening of nuclear deterrence, making the issues even more sensitive and the missions of armies even more numerous.
Added to this are the risks of a major, high-intensity conflict leading to large-scale training, such as the recent Orion exercise, which involved ground, air, naval, and cyber forces.
With the Head of State, the Chief of the Army Staff and under the watchful eye of the defense committees of the Assembly and the Senate, the Minister of the Armed Forces has made drastic decisions to spend every euro in a useful way. In a report he detailed how the 400 billion he is asking for will be spent with an additional 13.3 billion in extrabudgetary resources to reach 413 billion.
Cyber, space, special forces and DGSE…
Important detail, military support for Ukraine is not included in the budget of the armies, but the material taken from stocks will have to be replaced. Will the amount live up to the ambitions, especially since inflation risks amputating it by 30 billion according to estimates?
- 5,000 million euros for ground-air defense, including the fight against drones.
- 5,000 million euros for drones
- 13 billion euros for the Overseas Territories.
- 2 billion euros for special forces.
- 5,000 million euros for intelligence, mainly in the DGSE.
- 16,000 million euros to replenish ammunition stocks.
- 10,000 million euros for innovation.
- 49,000 million euros (+40%) for maintenance in the MCO operational state.
- 6 billion euros in space.
- 4,000 million euros in cybernetics.
Added to this is the almost total renewal of the French Navy fleet with a new aircraft carrier in its midst, with an initial budget of 5,000 million euros drawn from this new LPM. The Air Force will continue its modernization with the progress of the “all Rafale” program that will last until 2032 for 42 combat aircraft that were scheduled between 2027 and 2030.
The modernization of the Air Force with the Scorpion collaborative combat program made up of Serval, Griffon, Jaguar and Leclerc armored vehicles continues to be a priority. In an amendment to billthe government plans by 2030 to have 238 Jaguars in stock against 200 planned and 1,437 Griffon armored vehicles against 1,345 planned in a first version of the text.
Retain military and civilian troops.
But the main financial item in the army budget is for personnel. By 2030, the objective of the Minister of the Armed Forces is to have a workforce of 355,000 people (275,000 soldiers and civilians and 80,000 operational reservists). The ministry intends to build an army with “one reservist for every two active soldiers” by 2035. Ground forces have already launched a recruitment program to increase cyber-skilled soldiers from 10,000 to 15,000. Not only will these staff need to be recruited, trained and, for the most part, housed, equipped and, above all, encouraged to stay.
An endowment of 750 million euros will be dedicated to the “Family Plan II”, designed involving local authorities to “better compensate for operational limitations, support the mobility of soldiers and improve the daily life of families”.
Each year, this LPM foresees a budget increase of more than 3,000 million euros to reach 69 in 2030, that is, double that of 2019. France is not the only one that wants to dedicate a large budget to defense.
It should eventually reach 2% of France’s GDP in accordance with the targets set by NATO for each of the alliance’s member countries. 2022 will have been the eighth consecutive year of growth on a global scale with a budget of 2.24 billion dollars, or 2.2% of world GDP according to the latest Sipri report. In Europe, 480 billion euros were dedicated to armies in 2022, an increase of 13% in one year, the highest growth in 30 years.
Source: BFM TV
