France to Invest in Procuring and Maintaining Defence Equipment

Friday 29 May 2015, Amsterdam

The participation in international peacekeeping operations and modernization of defence systems will drive French defence expenditure on equipment procurement and maintenance, finds a new report, now available on ASDReports.

Overall defence spending in France will remain flat in 2015, with an estimated expenditure of US$48.5 billion in 2015. This is due to the French government’s plan to reduce and stabilise its defence expenditure in order to control the country’s increasing fiscal deficit. R The report expects total spending to grow slowly at a CAGR of 0.6% over the next five years to reach US$51 billion in 2020. However, France’s spending on equipment procurement and maintenance will increase at a CAGR of 0.74% during 2016–2020, compared to a CAGR of -3.65% recorded during the last five years.


Spending driven by peacekeeping missions in Africa and Middle East

France's defence spending on procurement and maintenance is driven by the country’s active participation in peacekeeping missions. Currently, France is increasing its presence in Western Africa to fight against Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist Group. Furthermore, the country is expected to boost its military presence to fight against IS after a series of terrorist attacks in France. “France has deployed its Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier against the Islamic State in Iraq as part of the US-led military campaign,” says Deepanjana Deb, analyst at SDI.

In the coming years demand for equipment is mainly expected to revolve around land-based C4ISR, multi-role aircraft, transport aircraft, nuclear attack submarine and military IT such as biometric data acquisition systems or simulators for ground force and air crews. According to the six-year defence spending programme ‘Projet de Loi de Programmation Militaire,’ France will make investments in the procurement of multi-role armoured vehicles, nuclear attack submarines, Rafale multi-role fighter, Telemos UAV, Sperwer tactical drones and the upgrade of Mirage 2000D fighters, among others.