Par
Sebastien Lucot
Published on
36Â billion euros additional by 2030. This is what the deputies of theNational Assembly by updating the military programming law. An extension carrying the latter to 449Â billion euros.
In a context marked by the war in Ukraine and the Middle East, and by the “choice” of the executive to guarantee French sovereignty in the Defense sector, Sébastien Martin, Minister of Industry, assured during his trip on May 19, 2026 to the Cotentin that he wanted to “transform this financial effort in capacités de production concrètes ».
Less cautious banks
Producing more submarines, frigates, critical systems or military equipment requires factories capable of ramping up, robust supply chains, solid subcontractors and available skills.
The defense industrial and technological base today represents approximately 220,000 jobs, united in nine large groups and more than 4,500 small and medium-sized businesses (SME) and mid-sized companies (ETI). The one which brings together all Defense companies and contributes to designing and producing equipment for the armies weighed more than 30Â billion euros in turnover annual in 2025.
Large groups often have the cash necessary to ensure investments in response to current war context and the tension faced by the Defense industrial ecosystem. This is not always the case for smaller companies.
“If the production chain does not have the necessary financing to invest, recruit and ramp up, this industrial strength can become weakened,” concedes the Minister of Industry when faced with Cherbourg subcontracting companies, such as JSP Industries.
The trickle-down of this economy to the entire subcontracting chain was one of the messages carried by the politician, who has long denounced the government’s lack of will to dialogue and take into account the local level.
“A pillar of our sovereignty”
Credits granted by the six largest French banks to Defense companies reached more than 46 billion euros at the end of 2025, i.e. increase of 26% over one year.
For a long time, the Defense industry was viewed with caution by part of the financial world. Today, it is recognized for what it is: a pillar of our sovereignty and our collective security.
To concretely respond to the needs of subcontracting, the minister also mentioned the Normandy Defense Fund, one of the first regional funds to be operational and with a first tranche of financing of 5 million euros.
An essential subcontracting for Naval Group
Beyond its Cherbourg site, which has 3,500 employees dedicated to the design and construction of submarines, Naval Group has a network of more than 230 supplier companies in Normandy.
“Among them, 64% are SMEs, or around 150 SMEs”, indicates the industrialist, who also won this May 19, 2026, from Sweden, the order for four defense and intervention frigates, the construction of which will be ensured by Naval Group on its Lorient site.
On the Barracuda program and its six nuclear attack submarines (SNA), of which the fourth in series, the De Grasse, was launched in February 2026, 800 companies were involved in total, all regions combined.
As for the 3rd generation nuclear missile submarines (SNLE 3G) program, more than 500 partners are currently making their contribution. “In other words, behind each submarine built in Cherbourg, there are thousands of French industrial know-how,” underlined Sébastien Martin in his speech, in front of a myriad of elected officials, authorities and business directors from Cotentin.
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/2026/05/21/6a0ec36dcd74d723096553.jpg "\"Strong pressures\", \"climate of economic uncertainty\"… French activity records its sharpest decline in five and a half years against a backdrop of war in the Middle East")
