Defense Minister Lecornu: 'This military budget allows France to remain a world power' (2024)

France will devote €413 billion to its armed forces between 2024 and 2030, announced President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, January 20, during a trip to the air base of Mont-de-Marsan (southwestern France). Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu details the priorities and challenges of this new military programming law (LPM) in an interview with Le Monde.

How ambitious is this €413 billion envelope over seven years?

It is a historic sum. If we were to find a comparison for this political, budgetary, military and technological effort, we would have to go back to the Gaullists in the 1960s, when they transformed our army model and embarked on the race to make France a standalone nuclear power. This law has two objectives: to protect us, including in the face of new threats, and to project us abroad, with our allies, to defend our security and our values, if necessary. This budget allows France to remain a world power. Without it, we would be relegated.

How have the soaring costs of raw materials and energy, the effects of which are feared by many general staffs, been taken into account?

That's obviously built in, but it is not the main point. We are now talking about doubling the annual budget of the armed forces between 2017 – 32.7 billion over the year – and 2030! These €413 billion are more than just a budgetary envelope. It is an effort required of the nation, in the service of a strategy to guarantee the country's protection.

Will this envelope be able to meet all the demands of the armed forces or will they have to give up some things?

It is difficult to talk about giving things up with €413 billion. On the other hand, we have to make bets. Let's not expect to win a battle in 2030 with 2020 equipment: Technological leaps are becoming increasingly rapid. Let's not be like those who clung to their horses and postponed mechanized tank programs. We must be agile.

The president uses the term "transformation" to characterize this new LPM (covering 2023-2030), after the previous one (2019-2023) was described as "repair." What do you want to transform?

The French army has long been damaged by brutal budget cuts. Our military apparatus has been able to operate at a slower pace in terms of training and stock and sometimes even in a degraded environment. Now, it is not so much a question of repairing, even if this will continue, particularly in terms of infrastructure and support to forces. The changing world requires us to pragmatically adapt our defense model: "Tell me your dangers, I'll give you your army."

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