On the occasion of his New Year's address for the armed forces on January 20th at Air Force Base 118 in Mont-de-Marsan, southwestern France, President Emmanuel Macron presented the key data for the law on military financial planning (LPM) for 2024 to 2030: This should then be followed by an overall budget for the seven-year plan A “transformation” of the armed forces will be financed by 413 billion euros. For the last LPM from 2019 to 2025, 295 billion euros were budgeted, which means that additional spending of more than a third will occur.
This additional spending “corresponds to the dangers, that is, they are significant,” said Macron. Finally, the multi-year financial planning is taking place for the first time against the backdrop of the Russian attack on the entire Ukraine. With this massive financial effort, France must be put in a position to be prepared for “a war in advance in order to be able to wage even more brutal wars, at the same time even more numerous and even more ambiguous wars”. This makes it clear that the French president expects Russia to expand the war in Ukraine.
The transformation of the armed forces should rest on four pivotal points: 1. strengthening deterrence, 2. preparing for a high-intensity war, 3. protecting national interests in the various dimensions and 4. strengthening international partnerships.
Strengthening deterrence
“Deterrence,” said Macron, “is an element that makes France a country unique in Europe. We recalculate their vital importance by analyzing the war in Ukraine. It deserves the considerable effort we are giving it.” Even if we only talk about “deterrence” here, it refers exclusively to nuclear deterrence, since the French are fully aware that they cannot deter Russia conventionally. It is significant that (nuclear) deterrence is mentioned first, which illustrates the importance given to the “Force de Frappe” in the national defense strategy.
France also needs “more intelligence capabilities that allow us to anticipate crises or threats,” Macron continued. Therefore, “the budgets of the secret services should be increased overall by almost 60 percent, including, among other things, the budgets of the military reconnaissance service DRM and the military counterintelligence service DRSD should be doubled.”
Preparing for a high-intensity war
“We must be able to act faster, be more reactive, by strengthening national emergency measures.” According to Macron, in order to close the gaps that have arisen, “operational preparations must be resolutely ramped up and the availability of the relevant material improved.” In order to adapt to the intensity of the threat, “our ammunition stocks, our logistics and our support forces must be consistently expanded”. In addition, “the military effects should be brought together thanks to the digitalization of the battlefield,” as was already the case with the national army program “Scorpion” to increase combat performance and with the multinational “Future Combat Air System“(FCAS) is happening,” said the President.
Protection of national interests in various dimensions
The military dimensions of the cosmos, cyber space and the world's oceans are of particular importance. It was important to Macron to point out that, thanks to its overseas territories, France has the second largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world. The head of state therefore wanted “mastery of the seabed up to a depth of 6,000 meters within the EEZ, for military reasons but also to protect our undersea critical infrastructure”.
Strengthening international partnerships
According to Macron, when it comes to international security partnerships, those within the framework of our Europe must first be taken into account. After all, “our security depends on that of our neighbors.” Therefore, the focus must be placed on “interoperability and, of course, on the common strategic culture” – both of which represent “thick boards” that need to be “drilled”.
In this context, reference is made to the “Strategic Compass” for security and defense, which was approved by the EU heads of state and government at the European Council in Brussels at the end of March last year in the wake of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. As further examples, the French President cited the European Defense Fund (EDF) from 2017, the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) from 2018, the European Intervention Initiative, which was initiated by Macron himself in 2017, and the multilateral European “Takuba Task Force” from 2020 to support France in the Sahel and the bilateral CaMo cooperation (“Capacité Motorisée”) from 2019 with the Belgian land forces to equip them with armored vehicles.
France, Macron continued, must be able to “fulfill all its responsibilities in Europe and beyond” while remaining “a reliable ally” within NATO. “We should be able to act with the Europeans, within NATO or outside the alliance, and, if necessary, ensure our own leadership capabilities that would allow us to carry out a large-scale operation together.” For the French president, this implies within a European one Framework - with or without NATO - to relocate up to 20,000 soldiers across TSK.
Gerd Portugall
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