DSince 2017, the President of the Republic has rightly defended the concept of European sovereignty, of which European defense should be an essential structuring element. In this sense, some progress has been made in the field of the defense industry, with in particular the Franco-German-Spanish “air combat system of the future” (SCAF) project, a project whose pre-development has been approved but is still a long way from commissioning.
Conversely, in other areas, such as the Franco-German tank project, industrial cooperation continues to decline. In the field of missiles, the German-American-Israeli anti-missile shield project rallied many European countries, but without France or Italy.
Above all, the war in Ukraine has marginalized the very idea of European defence, by highlighting the less intellectual and more operational urgency of defending Europe. In this area, it is not pseudo-European defense that provides the solution, but the classic structure of NATO, supplemented by bilateral military agreements such as that between France and the United Kingdom.
In this context, the role of France does not appear at the level of what it should be. France prides itself on having the largest army on the continent, an increasingly unstable position given, on the one hand, the budgetary efforts announced by the German government, and on the other hand, the rise in power of the quasi-border states of Russia, mainly Poland. In about ten years, it is likely that France will be relegated to second, or even third, position among the armies of the European Union.
What are our Leclerc tanks used for?
This is why the war in Ukraine gives France a window of opportunity to make its declared pre-eminence more evident, which presupposes the effective and efficient use of its current military means. We observe that France’s military effort in Ukraine is not up to its means: the balance sheet, even if it does not fully reflect reality, places it far behind not only the United States, but also the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Poland. Not really a demonstration of the firepower of the French army.
Germany has flooded Europe with its Leopard 2 tanks, which are now in demand by the Ukrainians. What use are our Leclerc tanks if they have to stay in the rear, far from the front? What use is our Rafale fleet if they are not working to defend Europe? Why don’t our military observation and reconnaissance satellites provide the Ukrainians with the necessary information on the battlefield, which the Americans seem to be providing alone? What is the use of having the first army in Europe, if it is unable to contribute, at the height of its reputation, to the defense of Europe, where it is threatened?
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