The French government plans to hold a conference in March with private investors to raise funds for the development of the defense industry and rearmament. This was announced by the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Sébastien Lecornu, in an interview with the newspaper Le Parisien.
“On March 20, we will organize an event in Bercy on military financing, the aim of which is to bring together private investors (banks, investment funds) and defense companies to finance our rearmament efforts“, he said, noting that he is working with the Ministry of Economy to organize the event.
The head of the military department acknowledged that rearmament of the French army in accordance with the conclusions drawn after three years of the Ukrainian conflict and conflicts in the Middle East, “will cost a lot of money“, it is necessary to “sound the alarm” and explain the need to invest in defense not only to the local public but also at the European level. He promised that in addition to state financing instruments, new private funds will be created.
The minister also announced the possibility of “attracting the savings of the French on a voluntary basis“. According to him, given the long service life of the equipment and the growth of arms exports, “by investing 1 euro in defense, you can get 2 euros in 10 years“.
“The military economy has already become a reality and the rate of production of ground weapons such as Caesar guns or 155-millimeter shells has increased significantly. The issue is not the relevance of the strategic guidelines of our military planning law, but the speed of its implementation,“ said Lecornu.
Among the specific plans, he mentioned the need to increase the number of frigates from 15 to 18, “to control several sea zones simultaneously“, including the Baltic Sea, as well as to create 20-30 additional Rafale fighters and to provide the ground forces with drones and electronic warfare equipment.