PARIS — French defense export orders had their second-best year ever in 2024, rising to more than €18 billion (US$18.6 billion) on demand for Rafale fighter jets and submarines, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu told troops in his traditional New Year’s address in Paris on Tuesday.
Lecornu called for 2025 to be a new record year, driven by exports of surface vessels, submarines, radars, artillery, helicopters and yet more Rafale jets. Export efforts will also focus on the latest version of the French-Italian SAMP/T air-defense system, which the minister said is fundamental to defending against future ballistic-missile threats, particularly from Iran and Russia.
France counts on exports to help pay for what it calls strategic autonomy, allowing the country to maintain capabilities such as building an entire fighter jet or nuclear-powered submarine, with an economy a fraction that of the United States or China. France was the second-largest arms shipper in the 2019-2023 period after the United States, accounting for 11% of global arms exports, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
“Exporting our weapons is vital to developing our defense industrial and technological base,” Lecornu said. “It is just as vital for our trade balance, and for creating jobs throughout France. But it is also a prerequisite for our sovereignty.”
Last year’s orders included nearly €10 billion for Dassault Aviation’s Rafale jet and Naval Group submarines, according to Lecornu. France’s overall defense export orders more than doubled from €8.2 billion in 2023, after a record €27 billion in 2022.
Separately, Dassault Aviation reported export orders for 30 Rafale fighters in 2024 from 18 a year earlier. Export deliveries rose to seven aircraft from two, on total deliveries of 21 Rafale jets in 2024 and 13 a year earlier.
Lecornu warned the government’s failure to pass a 2025 budget last year in a divided parliament threatens France’s ability to fund the military sufficiently. He called on lawmakers to assume their legislative responsibility, saying the armed forces should “at the very least” receive the budget set out in the 2024-2030 military spending law “to ensure France’s real military effectiveness.”
The annual defense budget increase of €3 billion over the planning period should seen as a floor, “certainly not a ceiling,” the minister said. With security threats mounting, “we must not weaken.”
Arms production is rising in countries at war and authoritarian regimes, but also the large democratic powers, some of which are allies and export competitors alike, according to the minister. France is “only at the beginning” of reaching the level of a true war economy, despite this being essential to the survival of the country’s sovereign defense industry, Lecornu said.
“The war economy we are implementing should also make our defense industry more competitive on the export market, particularly in terms of lead times and prices, when there is a brutal competition being played out as the world rearms itself.” Lecornu has previously said that slow delivery times have caused French firms to lose orders to foreign rivals.
European Union plans to support the defense industry are useful but shouldn’t result in European taxpayers’ money being spent on producing American equipment under license, the minister argued. The latter might provide “the illusion of European autonomy” but would put the continent at the mercy of a potential strategic U-turn by its U.S. ally, according to Lecornu.
EU countries must remain sovereign in defining operational and capability requirements, Lecornu said. The European Commission’s role should be to speed up and simplify the development of European defense industries, “not to take the place of member states by creating additional complexities or constraints.”
The minister called on manufacturers to take more risks in weapons innovation, rather than count on the government to pay for new projects. “Where there is a market, there is by definition an economic model to be found, and the taxpayer alone cannot be systematically called upon in any form of precondition.”
French priorities in 2025 will include deployment of artificial intelligence throughout the defense department, starting in operational intelligence and cyber. The goal is to make AI available for all operational uses, including in anti-drone warfare, operational decision making, fire control for terrestrial robots and piloting aids for fighter jets, Lecornu said.
“The year 2025 should allow us to move up a gear and make France one of the world’s leading countries in the field of military artificial intelligence.”
France is also betting on quantum technologies, which will have a major impact on how war is waged, according to Lecornu. The armed forces will deploy quantum inertial units in submarines and Rafale jets, and quantic atomic clocks in its satellites.
Space will also be key in 2025, with the first commercial flight of the Ariane 6 launcher lifting the military surveillance satellite CSO-3 into orbit. France plans to organize a military space summit in the first half to bring together the French space industry and prioritize the military’s needs.
Drones will be another area of focus, with France seeking to ensure that “every Army unit, every Navy surface vessel or every aircraft of the Air and Space Force” has its accompanying drones and corresponding anti-drone system. Industry must move quickly and, if necessary, turn to existing, cheap, off-the-shelf systems rather than going through years of development and certification, Lecornu said. “The situation is urgent, and here too, only results will count.”
France isn’t where it needs to be in terms of anti-drone electronic warfare, and Lecornu said he expects a leap forward in this area in 2025. “Where drones are present, they must be mirrored by electronic warfare capabilities, either for jamming or detection. All our platforms and forward bases will be targets tomorrow, and must have their own electronic warfare capabilities.”
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
Read the full article here
