This increase is justified by the “very rapid deterioration of the geopolitical context” marked by the war in Ukraine, but also “by the appearance of many technological innovations that have a cost.”
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The French Ministry of Defense foresees annual increases of three to four billion euros in the budget of the Armed Forces, due to the context of war in Europe, according to the military programming law for 2024-2030 that it presented on Monday.
The Value Contained in the Military Programming Bill “represents an unprecedented increase in the defense budget” to reach 69,000 million euros in 2030against 32,000 million euros in 2017, defended the team of the minister Sébastien Lecornu.
An effort that is justified by the “rapid deterioration of the geopolitical context” marked by the war in Ukraine, but also “by the appearance of many technological innovations that have a cost”says the ministry in the document that it brought to the Council of Ministers on Monday.
The budget dedicated to the Armed Forces will amount to 413 billion euros over seven years, including 13 billion euros in extra-budgetary income that will be used, in particular, to finance military aid to Ukraine.
Sébastien Lecornu still wants to see an additional €1.5 billion of spending authorized in 2023in addition to the annual budget of 43.9 billion euros, to combat “operational emergencies”, specifically in terms of ‘drones’ (unmanned aerial devices) and anti-drones, one of the weaknesses of the French military system revealed by Ukraine.
Some weapons programs benefited to the detriment of others in the programming of the coming years. Programs related to nuclear deterrence or the schedule of the next generation aircraft carrier, which will be commissioned by 2038, are preserved.
Deliveries of 42 Rafale fighters scheduled between 2027 and 2030 are extended to 2032for example, but the deliveries of A400M transport aircraft will already accelerate, while in 2030 the Navy will only be able to count on three of the five defense and intervention frigates.
France has been increasing its defense spending for several years, unlike other European countries, which only recently decided to make this budgetary effort and due to the conflict in Ukraine, in the case of Germany, for example.
“European countries have already ordered or are planning to order all kinds of weapons. Submarines, fighter jets, drones, anti-tank missiles, rifles and radars”, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
Source: Observadora
