Will France acquire one or two aircraft carriers to take over from the Charles-de-Gaulle? The decision could soon be made. During his visit to the steel giant, for the Christmas of the troops, Emmanuel Macron announced that he would speak in January on the next military programming law (LPM), presented by the summer in Parliament. The president must make a crucial arbitration concerning the budget of the armies: Bercy has proposed to allocate 370 billion euros for the period 2024-2030, the general staff claims 430 billion.
The challenge ? The place of France on the international scene. The Head of State wants to make it a “balance power” at the end of the decade. However, the national strategic review, enumeration of major objectives (nuclear, cyber, etc.) unveiled in November, did not address the question of the necessary means. “The LPM will therefore have to give the order of priorities, in particular the level of military ambition in Europe and, consequently, outside”, estimates Yohann Michel, of the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
“It is also an opportunity to place the right cursor in terms of equipment technology”, continues the researcher. If they are less complex, they will be less expensive and France will be able to have more of them. Such a “mass” would support a “high intensity” conflict. Or to provide an ally like Ukraine with the armaments essential to the conduct of a voracious war in material. A choice that would allow it to assert itself as a power that counts, without having two aircraft carriers.