The National Assembly was to vote on Friday evening the 2021 budget for the Armed Forces, up for the third consecutive year (+ 4.5% over one year) to 39.2 billion euros, in accordance with the 2019-2025 Military Programming Law (LPM).
“
Once again this year, the 2021 budget fully respects the commitments and financial trajectory of the LPM for the third consecutive year.
This budget pursues and consolidates the revival of our armies,
”Armed Minister Florence Parly told deputies.
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Of this increase of 1.7 billion euros in 2021, two-thirds will be devoted to major armaments programs.
Next year, the ministry plans to order 30 joint light helicopters, a second defense and response frigate (FDI) and 120 refurbished light armored vehicles.
As for deliveries, the armies will receive in 2021 a FREMM air defense frigate, 3 A330 MRTT tankers, 157 Griffon armored vehicles, 20 Jaguar armored vehicles and a Ceres electromagnetic monitoring satellite.
14 Mirage 2000-D, 2 Atlantique-2 aircraft and 3 C-130 transport aircraft will also be renovated.
Some 5 billion euros are to be spent on modernizing nuclear deterrence.
The Army Health Service (SSA), strongly mobilized in these times of health crisis, will benefit from a "
specific effort
" with a 27% increase in its budget.
On the human resources side, 300 additional jobs will be created in 2021, mainly for intelligence and cyber defense.
Investments in the renovation of the housing of soldiers and their families will be continued for nearly 400 million euros in order to retain staff.
In this regard, the special rapporteur of the defense budget, LREM deputy Aude Bono-Vandorme, suggests “
improving knowledge of the“ family plan ”to facilitate the use of the measures of this plan and thus strengthen its effectiveness
”.
In terms of the budgetary trajectory of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, "
so far, everything has gone well, but everything indicates, however, that things are bound to become complicated quickly
", for his part reacted the deputy LR François Cornut - Lens, recalling that "
the LPM is based on a new market of 1.7 billion in 2022 then on three successive markets amounting to 3 billion for the following years
".
"
Such a development (...) will be unrealistic in the post-health crisis context
".
The solemn vote of the entire 2021 budget is scheduled for November 17 at the end of this first reading, for final adoption in Parliament by December 18 at the latest.
