Question 11005 — defense

Summary

Mrs. Emmanuelle Ménard draws the attention of the Minister of the Armed Forces to the operational capacity of the armed forces. An article from the newspaper Le Monde of February 20, 2017 entitled “The race for rearmament is gaining momentum around the world” reports that “arms sales around the world are returning to their level at the end of the Cold War”. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates, in fact, the increase in arms sales at 8.4% over the period 2012-2016 compared to the period 2007-2011. The arms race is based on the principle that one is militarily competitive only in relation to others. Despite this, the resources allocated to the defense of France are not keeping pace. Certainly, the military programming law, promulgated on Friday July 13, 2018 by the President of the Republic, provides for an increase in defense credits to reach 2% of French GDP but this threshold does not will only be achieved within seven years. In an article dated April 29, 2015, Le Monde reported that France's defense had lost 20% of its budget in 25 years. This reduction in budget translated on the ground into technical failures with serious consequences. For example, a Senate report, dated July 11, 2018, indicates that in 2017, "only one helicopter in three was able to take off", which leads to just-in-time operations which wear out staff. Similarly, Mr. Serge Grouard, a specialist in defense issues, reported in the press in 2015 that less than one in two Hercules C-130 military transport planes was able to fly. He protested against the fact that the air force was forced to "practice cannibalization", explaining "you have for example ten aircraft on an air base: half fly... and the other is used to supply spare parts. In addition, the only French aircraft carrier is under repair and will not be available until 2019. Franceinfo reports an availability rate of military equipment of 50% in 2017 compared to 80% six years previously according to “several sources at the Ministry of Defense”. Also, she asks what concrete means she intends to implement to restore operational capacity to the armies from this moment on. year 2018.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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