France's top general warns of military shortfalls, risks falling behind Germany
PARIS — France's military needs more weapons and arms production has to get faster, warned the country's top general Fabien Mandon.
"We have not yet reached the level needed to fully address the challenges ahead," Mandon said of the size of the French military in a closed-door Senate meeting, according to newly released readouts.
The chief of defense staff met senators in April and in May and during the hearings — which are normally closed to the public —he also stressed that there is a real risk that Germany may surpass France as the continent's top military power, saying out loud what French defense circles have been whispering for months.
"We could fall behind. If Germany continues at this pace, in five years, the argument that we have operational experience and a certain culture will no longer hold water," the French general said. "For the Americans, Germany is gradually becoming the European benchmark."
By 2029, Germany is expected to spend €153 billion a year on defense. That’s about 3.5 percent of GDP, the country’s most ambitious military expansion since reunification. France, by comparison, plans to reach about €76.3 billion by 2030.
Mandon was speaking during hearings about France's updated military planning law, which earmarks an extra €36 billion for defense by 2030, but doesn’t foresee Paris purchasing additional aircraft or naval vessels.
While the lower house National Assembly has broadly endorsed the government's text, the Senate is pushing for more money and more military equipment. Senators are voting on the bill this week.
"The updated military planning law represents a move toward greater rigor, depth and consistency, but we have not yet arrived at the right model," the French chief of defense staff told the Senate's foreign affairs and defense committee. "To achieve it, the decision must be a political one."
Mandon laid out the challenges facing France. Eight months ago, he told MPs he was preparing the French military for a "shock" with Russia in the next three to four years.
The French general praised the French military's ability to deploy troops and military equipment at speed and in environments ranging from Greenland to the Middle East — but did point out problems.
He said France's air force is too small. While Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and President Emmanuel Macron initially promised 30 extra Rafale fighter jets, there is no provision for more warplanes in the military planning law.
To make up for it, Mandon — himself a pilot — said air force chief Gen. Jérôme Bellanger could rapidly create a squadron of drones with a 3,000-kilometer range carrying explosives loads of 200 to 400 kilograms.
The military chief also highlighted issues with defense production, nearly four years after Macron called on French companies to enter a war economy.
"I am not satisfied with the current level of production, and I believe that its inadequacy poses a threat to our national defense," Mandon told senators. "Our companies are capable of producing remarkable, high-tech products, but they don't know how to manufacture them quickly and at low cost."
He called out European missile-maker MBDA by name, acknowledging that the company is running its factory 24 hours a day, but complained about an "inadequate" number of production lines.
