France is present in the region to defend its interests or the interests of countries with which it has agreements. The Charles de Gaulle ship has been deployed for a month in the eastern Mediterranean to try to deter and prevent attacks from Tehran on France’s allies. All of this comes at a cost to the country. BFMTV has calculated how much the war in the Middle East costs France.
Our colleagues conducted a simulation of deployment costs based on figures provided by the Senate and the Court of Auditors. The quick inventory of forces present in the field includes: personnel deployed on naval and air bases, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, the eight frigates costing 10,000 euros per day, the 20,000 euros per hour of flight of the Rafale, and missiles costing between one and three million euros each.
800 million euros spent per day for the United States
According to BFMTV’s estimates of the cost of one month of conflict, the 5,000 military men and women, paid between 1,500 euros and 3,000 euros per month, represent 11 million euros in costs. Still for the month, the frigates represent 22 million euros, the use of 6 Rafales for three hours costs 30 million euros. As a result, over a month, the budget for France’s external operations in the war in Iran would be 135 million euros.
A sum not to be compared with that of the United States during the same conflict, which is 800 million euros every day to wage war! This cost is also to be put into perspective since France’s annual budget for external operations amounts to one billion euros. Over a month, the cost of France’s external operations is higher than the usual average expenses but nothing extraordinary in times of conflict.
