Lines of defense – Military programming law: 14 billion euros more for the armies?

In a global context marked by crises, senators therefore want to go further than the executive. And the final financial objective of the military programming law (LPM) becomes dizzying since with this new increase, the senators are proposing a peak in military spending of 450 billion euros at the end of the decade, or 2.7% of GDP.

The 450 billion euros, why do it?

There are numerous capacity emergencies, points out Senator Cédric Perrin, member of the Defense and Armed Forces committee. In particular, it is necessary to inflate the format of the Navy and that of the Air Force, whose forces are today in great demand: “We amended the capacity table to respond in some way, firstly, to the request made at the time by the Minister of the Armed Forces in February 2025, when he said that around thirty Rafales, three frigates and land equipment were missing. And so the annex table has been modified with 20 additional Rafale Air and 10 Rafale Marine, three frigates. There are also obviously amendments on aeroballistics at 1 000 kilometers and which could be used by the three weapons land, sea and air, with obviously significant demands. »

« We have topics on naval drones, on stealth drones as well, it being understood that all of this will not necessarily be delivered straight away. It is quite obvious that the idea is also to set orders, to set objectives and not to waste time since, by pushing back a certain number of orders until the Greek calendars, we obviously lose time and we are delivered very late. We are fighting for a sincere LPM and especially an LPM consistent with the threats for which the executive has been preparing us for some time now. »

A strategic budgetary report

On several occasions, the army general staff has warned of a risk of conflict with the Russia by the end of the decade, but the Senate vote only presents an indicative trajectory.

This is similar to a strategic budgetary signal, to give much more ambition to a military programming law considered insufficient with regard to the threat, insists Cédric Perrin.

« I think it’s a question of priorities that we must give ourselves. Today, we are in an extremely complex situation where we have sent precursors to Greenland. We then sent our carrier strike group to Chypre. We are in an extremely complex situation in the Strait of Hormuz. L’Ukraine Being also in difficulty, the theaters of operations are multiplying and I believe that we must be ready. And so it’s a sort of priority that we must give ourselves today. For me in any case, the question of defense is an absolute priority. And then we also need, as part of the debate for the presidential election, to debate these subjects. However, I still remind you that for all the presidential elections that have taken place over the last fifteen years, there has been no debate on defense issues. I think that fundamentally, today, it is a subject that must be debated. And I also think, fundamentally, that we are being watched by our potential adversaries, the adversaries who are watching what we do and what we vote for.»

Real investments for the armies are voted on each year in the finance bill. The 50 billion euros supermarket by 2030 desired by the Senate will therefore potentially only be adopted after the presidential election, but the debate is open.

Also readFrance: what the new military programming law provides for the armies