During his New Year wishes to the armed forces on Friday, January 20, pronounced from Mont-de-Marsan air base, French president Emmanuel Macron presented the future military programming law 2024-2030 which will allocate a budget of 413 billion euros for the armed forces. The high increase reflects the rising tensions not only with Russia but in several parts of the world, namely Africa and the Pacific. Today, the dangers are considerable, Emmanuel Macron underlined. “The threats are multiple and aggregate rather than follow one another”.
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“After an LPM of "repair" of the armed forces to "restore breath and means" and "get out of the shortage", the new programming law will have to "transform" the armed forces“, President Macron said (Picture source: Army Recognition)
The change of scale is meant to be “unprecedented”, as Nicolas Barotte writes in the French newspaper Le Figaro. The previous LPM 2019-2025 provided 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. 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 armed forces“, President Macron said“.
The "transformation" of the armies promised by the new LPM will have to be based on four "pivots", explained Emmanuel Macron, quoted by Nicolas Barotte: 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 continental Europe could assume,” said Emmanuel Macron. By investing in "integrator", or "assembler" according to the preferred formula, France wants to gain influence in Europe and military thickness.
The President assured that the resources 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 defenses, space capabilities, the modernization of equipment, the strengthening of the national emergency level or even the particular effort to provide the overseas territories which form a "strategic constellation" with resources. In the Indo-Pacific, the French 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, Nicolas Barotte reports, Emmanuel Macron also wants to put pressure and constraint on the defense industrial ecosystem: the government wants to better distribute the economic risk taken with the industrialists. In exchange, he promises a simplification of the procedures. A reform of the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) has been initiated. Internally, the joint command will also have to adapt.
