After long months of discussion, Emmanuel Macron has decided.
The next military programming law (LPM) from 2024 to 2030 will allocate a budgetary effort of 400 billion euros for the armies.
The increase is significant, given the overall economic context, even if the military institution would have liked more.
“
Infrastructure disposals
” will make it possible to further increase the amount to allow “
covering a need of 413 billion euros
”.
The change of scale is meant to be “
unprecedented
”.
The previous LPM 2019-2025 provided for a budget of 295 billion euros.
It was executed according to plan, which had not happened for decades.
"
In total, the two laws will have led to a doubling of the budget of our armies
", underlined the President of the Republic during a speech Friday on the air base 118 of Mont-de-Marsan.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: with heavy tanks, kyiv hopes for a tactical advantage
After an LPM of "
repair
" of the armies to "
restore breath and means
" and "
get out of the shortage
", the new programming law will have to "transform" the armies, explained the Head of State.
“
We must not do the same with more but do better
,” he insisted.
The war in Ukraine, for almost a year, has obviously upset the outlook, even if the need to rearm France was already envisaged during the previous five-year term.
Today, the dangers are "
considerable
", warned Emmanuel Macron.
“
Threats are multiple and aggregate rather than follow one another
“, he continued, shelling the fields of conflictuality as the forms of confrontation.
Even if in Europe it has military credibility, France will have to make a lucid examination of its means.
Intelligence building
The "
transformation
" of the armies promised by the new LPM will have to be based on four "
pivots
", explained Emmanuel Macron: a strengthening of the core of French defense sovereignty, deterrence or the cyber defense posture, adaptation to the requirements high intensity, preparation to intervene in common spaces, such as space, digital technology or the seas, an ability to forge partnerships.
France wants to move upmarket to be able to assume coalition command responsibilities, whether within NATO or elsewhere, in Africa.
“
It is a responsibility that only she in continental Europe could take on.
said Emmanuel Macron, alluding to the possibility that the United States could be mobilized elsewhere and could no longer play its role as leader.
By investing in "
integrator
", or "
assembler
" according to the preferred formula, France wants to gain influence in Europe and military thickness.
Concretely, the president did not go into all the details.
He mentioned a few symbolic areas.
He assured that the means devoted to intelligence would increase by 60% and that the budgets of the DRM (military intelligence) and the DRSD (force protection) would double.
With regard to cyber, the capacity to deal with major attacks will be doubled.
In terms of equipment, the Air Force will switch
to “all Rafale
”*.
He confirmed the construction of the new generation aircraft carrier to succeed the Charles de Gaulle.
He mentioned the strengthening of ground-to-air defences, space capabilities, the modernization of equipment, the strengthening of the national emergency level or even the
strategic constellation
.
In the Indo-Pacific, the overseas territories are exposed to international tensions.
The operational reserve will also be doubled to give the armies greater support.
Finally, the Head of State raised the sensitive issue of stocks of ammunition or equipment.
These had been cut as tightly as possible, or even less.
To strengthen the armies, Emmanuel Macron also wants to put pressure and constraint on the defense industrial ecosystem.
The government wants to better distribute the economic risk taking with the industrialists.
In exchange, he promises a simplification of the procedures.
A reform of the Directorate General for Armaments has been initiated.
Internally, the joint command will also have to adapt.
The construction sites will not be easy to carry out.
Much remains to be clarified.
If the financial effort is substantial, it will require adjustments and arrangements.
Within the government, it is accepted that certain programs may have to be postponed in order to free up financial room for manoeuvre.
This will not be without consequences for the armies concerned.
The volume of forces and materials will also have to be clarified, while the military personnel will not change.
*(The Dassault group owns Le Figaro)
