By Aurélie Pugnet | EURACTIV.com
04-04-2023 (updated: 04-04-2023 )
France learned “from the return of interstate conflict to Europe’s doorstep”, the minister for Armed forces Sébastien Lecornu says [EPA/ THOMAS PADILLA / POOL]
Languages: Deutsch
Paris plans to focus part of its Armed Forces budget on replenishing ammunition stocks over the next seven years, the government’s new finance bill published on Tuesday (4 April) shows.
The so-called Military Programming Law (LPM, ‘Loi de programmation militaire’), a new version of which was presented to the French Council of Ministers on Tuesday morning, spells out the annual defence budget plans of President Macron’s government.
In its latest version, the French government proposes to spend €16 billion on “ammunition over the period 2024-2030”.
In total, Paris wishes to spend €413 billion on the military over the next seven years, which would see the annual budget of the French armed forces doubled by 2030 compared to 2017.
The announcement comes against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has underscored the need for ammunition across Europe and the advantage of having sufficient stockpiles, into which Ukraine’s allies have been digging to aid Kyiv.
“The next few years must allow the armed forces to consolidate and replenish stocks”, the proposed budget text states, which lays stronger emphasis on ammunition compared to previous budgeting periods.
France, in composing this budget, has learned from the experience “from the return of interstate conflict to Europe’s doorstep”, Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, stated in the preamble of his ministry’s bill.
The next few years’ investments “will also promote a necessary transition to future capabilities: deep fires, increased range and improved homing, and remotely operated munitions” the text states.
France, therefore, will look into the “modernisation of long-range anti-ship missiles, Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) and cruise capabilities, surface-to-air and air-to-air interceptors (Aster-MICA and METEOR) as well as the F21 heavy torpedoes and the anti-tank armour (ACCP, MMP)” the bill says.
[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski]
Languages: Deutsch
