The world’s second largest exporter of arms over the period 2021-2025, is France arousing jealousy to the point of being attacked? In any case, this is what a recent study by the Directorate of Defense Intelligence and Security (DRSD) seems to indicate. According to this overview of threats published this week, the number of physical attacks has increased significantly, from 18% in 2024 to 24% in 2025. “The entities of the Bdefense industrial and technological base or research of defense interest have thus been the targets of numerous intrusion attempts within their industrial footprints or their laboratories.“, notes the DRSD.
To explain this increase, the institution emphasizes that last year “was marked by an increase in international political and economic tensions ”. One situation that «Âhad visible consequences for the arms industry and those involved in public defense research“. This analysis echoes the words of Sébastien Lecornu: during a parliamentary hearing in 2024, the Prime Minister and former Minister of the Armed Forces emphasized that the number of attacks targeting the defense sphere, in the broad sense, had particularly increased since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “It’s something very “Cold War”, but which has never disappeared and which has regained particular strength over the past two years.“, he declared.
Ultra-left actions
However, the war in Ukraine is not enough, on its own, to explain the increase in attacks targeting the defense sector. This phenomenon is part of a broader context of growing international tensions and strengthened economic rivalries. Competition between arms manufacturers also appears to be an aggravating factor. But then, how are these physical attacks characterized?
They notably take the form of attempted thefts of computers, technical equipment or even drone flights and reflect an intensification of the risks of espionage and the capture of sensitive data. “The theft of professional IT media constitutes a major risk of leaks, because it remains one of the simplest ways to capture sensitive information.“, recalls the DRSD. And to develop: « CTheft is sometimes facilitated by the negligence of certain employees. »
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Military intelligence also points to acts of sabotage and damage targeting certain strategic infrastructures. Fires, tags or spraying of paint have notably been recorded near defense sites. Certain actions were claimed by ultra-left movements against a backdrop of tensions linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This type of maneuver continued in 2026 with, again recently, a series of coordinated fires – in the Cher – targeting electrical installations supplying arms factories such as KNDS or MBDA.
