Macron announces entry “into a war economy” and calls for “a reassessment” of the military programming law


“We are going to have to organize ourselves in the long term,” said the President of the Republic when he inaugurated the Eurosatory, near Paris, on Monday.

The formula is shocking. Three and a half months after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the head of state Emmanuel Macron underlined on Monday the challenges posed to the defense sector, that “ of entering a war economy“. “We will have to organize ourselves sustainably“, he declared while inaugurating the Eurosatory near Paris, “go faster, think differently about the rhythms, the increases in load, the margins to reconstitute more quickly what is essential for our armies, for our allies, for those and those we want to help, an economy where we can no longer live with the grammar of even a year ago“, he warned. The defense industry must get out of the habit of peacetime to increase its rates. The formula is a warning. The government also plans, according to The worlda legislative amendment to be able to requisition, in certain circumstances, civilian companies for military purposes.

During decades of peace, defense manufacturers, as well as military staffs, have become accustomed to producing high value-added equipment in limited quantities. In times of war, where these weapons are potentially used, you have to produce faster. The question arises in particular for ammunition, whose stocks are cut as tightly as possible, even at a minimum. But if Western economies want to support the Ukrainian war effort over time, they will have to change gears. Last week, kyiv claimed to have exhausted its Soviet-era stockpiles. The Ukrainian army is now dependent on external aid. Russian forces have understood this by regularly targeting their enemy’s rear logistics. In this fight, the American support is without common measure with that, sample, of the Europeans. Since February 24, Washington has provided $4.6 billion in aid to Ukraine.

If Emmanuel Macron wants to ask the defense industry to make an effort, the president has also suggested a review of France’s military budget. Since 2017, it has been rising to reach 40.9 billion euros this year. The next budget, included in the Military Programming Law, provides for an increase of 3 billion. “ I have asked the Minister and the Chief of Defense Staff to be able to carry out in the coming weeks a reassessment of this Military Programming Law in the light of the geopolitical context asked the head of state. “ When the threat increases, the means must follow “, he added. If the LPM 2019-2025 has made it possible to “ to fix certain shortcomings, as the military say, it did not fill all the gaps in the French army model. The list of needs is endless: ammunition, drones, electronic warfare, transport aircraft…

Two difficulty points

Since the start of the war, the Ministry of the Armed Forces has been examining the weak points in its industrial chain. “ There remain two areas of difficulty on which further progress is needed, in light of the prospects for high-intensity conflict. “, assured for his part in May the general delegate for armaments Joël Barre, during a hearing in the Senate: “ This concerns the maintenance in operational condition of our equipment, the performance of availability, in particular for aircraft, and the upgrading of stocks of ammunition and spares. “. “In the context of the Ukrainian conflict, we have undertaken with our manufacturers an exercise to identify capacities for accelerating industrial production “, he added. “ It was a question of seeing with Safran, Thales, Nexter, or even MBDA how we could prepare for a possible ramp-up of our production capacities, and to identify any bottlenecks likely to be found in the supply chains. supply as well as dependencies on foreign supplies that could pose critical problems in the event of a crisis. We are studying the possibilities of building up stocks of components with long lead times. On average, half of the production cycle of our orders corresponds to long supply, which is very significant “explained Joël Barre. Creating stocks would make it possible to smooth production and avoid breaks in the rhythm of production.

Two weeks before a NATO summit, a European council and the end of the French presidency of the European Union, Emmanuel Macron is trying to push once again his ambition for European strategic autonomy. Increases in military spending, decided across the Union, should support Europe’s industrial base, he hopes. “ Spending a lot to buy elsewhere is not a good idea “, he hammered. “ It’s time to set up a European preference “, he said. But urgency and competition are not working in favor of the Europeans, with their fragmented defense industries.

SEE ALSO – Emmanuel Macron:We are going to have to organize ourselves in a war economy for a long time.»



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