Goals of the 2024-2030 Program Law: Guaranteeing the Credibility of Deterrence

May. 11, 2023

(Source: French Armed Forces Ministry; issued May 10, 2023)

(Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)

A French Syracuse military communications satellite. Space, cyber and the deep-sea domain are areas that will receive increased attention under the 2024-2030 multiyear program law being debated by the French Parliament. (TAS image)

As global balances are upset, the specter of nuclear power reappears. If the French deterrence doctrine remains unchanged, the weapon systems that ensure its operation must remain credible: this is one of the objectives of the 2024-2030 military programming law.

Since 1964, the French armed forces have ensured the permanence of nuclear deterrence to guarantee the sovereignty and freedom of action of our country. At the heart of the defense and national security strategy, nuclear weapons protect France and the French against any threat of state origin directed at its vital interests, whatever its origin and form. Today as yesterday, it dissuades the adversary from betting on the success of escalation, intimidation or blackmail. At a time when Europe is the theater of combat, deterrence protects against the nuclear rhetoric uttered by nuclear-weapon States.

However, nuclear deterrence requires high-level technological know-how and constant investment in the face of evolving threats. This performance requirement necessitates the staggering of armament programs over time, a long-term vision permitted by the 2024-2030 military programming law .

Modernization of the two components of nuclear deterrence

Due to its presence at sea, the Strategic Oceanic Force (FOST) is a component of French nuclear deterrence. It has four ballistic missile nuclear submarines (SNLE) and their M51 strategic ballistic sea-to-ground missiles. In all weathers, a SSBN is on patrol, diluted in the immensity of the oceans. It guarantees at all times the possibility of executing a nuclear strike ordered by the President of the Republic. To strengthen the deterrent posture of the FOST, the LPM is undertaking the continuation of work for the entry into service by 2035 of the third-generation ballistic missile nuclear submarine (SNLE-3G) and the development of the missile M51 ballistics.

The airborne component is made up of the strategic air forces (FAS) of the Air and Space Force and the nuclear naval air force (FANu) of the French Navy. The LPM provides for the renovation of airborne nuclear missiles ASMP-A and prepares the fourth generation of missiles (ASN4G). Work on the next generations of aircraft will be undertaken, such as the development of the standard Rafale 4 and the preparation of the combat aircraft of the future "New Generation Fighter".

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Goals of the 2024-2030 Program Law: Mastering New Areas of Conflict

May. 11, 2023

(Source: French Armed Forces Ministry; issued May 09, 2023)

(Unofficial translation by Defense-Aerospace.com)

PARIS --- Three new areas of conflict are reshuffling the cards of French defense strategy. Space, cyberspace and the seabed: the Military Programming Law (LPM) 2024-2030 intends to adapt the capabilities of the armies to these new fields of confrontation. How ?

Communication, intelligence, observation and protection of national interests: space plays a crucial role in defence. In fact, this highly strategic environment is becoming an increasingly intense source of tension, to the point of being militarized at high speed. Jamming, destruction or fraudulent takeover of satellites without the knowledge of their operator, the development of military capabilities in space is accelerating at the rate of the degradation of the global geostrategic environment.

To protect its interests in space, France is determined to renew and strengthen its space capabilities. The envelope of six billion euros dedicated to space aims to increase both our observation or intelligence capabilities and the defense capabilities of our satellites.

The Yoda demonstrator will pave the way for the first patrol and lookout satellites from 2025, which aim to provide France with the capacity for action in space. These capabilities will allow France to monitor space from space to detect and attribute a suspicious or aggressive act.

The LPM will also offer to continue experimenting with the momentary illumination or blinding of an opposing satellite from the ground.

"The space issue is fundamental if we want to remain in the club of nations in capacity to maintain sovereign intelligence or observation resources ". Sebastien Lecornu – Minister of the Armed Forces

Leading cyber defense

The omnipresence of cyberspace in most human activities arouses all types of desires: criminality, espionage, influence, sabotage. Cyberattacks have multiplied in recent years without it being possible to attribute their origin with certainty. Faced with the security and defense issues raised by this environment of immaterial conflict, France is beefing up its action. No less than four billion euros are programmed over the period to pursue the development of leading cyber defense against our strategic competitors. This amounts to tripling the budget devoted to cyber compared to the previous LPM.

The stated objectives of the LPM 2024-2030: increase and retain the staff of the cyber defense command created in 2017, increase the means of cyber protection for our strategic networks and develop a cyber defense of the battlefield.

A center of excellence will also be set up to structure, around the École polytechnique, content, methods and academic teams for the benefit of the cyber missions entrusted to the Ministry of the Armed Forces.

Towards mastering the seabed

Long inaccessible, the seabed is now a major strategic interest where the LPM 2024-2030 naturally fits. The emergence of underwater drones, capable of carrying out military operations there, is transforming the ocean floor into a space of conflict.

A ministerial strategy for controlling these unexplored spaces was unveiled at the start of 2022. It aims to expand the surveillance and action capabilities of the French Navy down to 6,000 meters deep. To do this, the 2024-2030 military programming law plans to invest in drones and underwater robots which will be implemented by 2025.

Rare metals, unknown and abundant biodiversity, immense reserves of gas: the seabed conceals coveted treasures. With an exclusive economic zone of 11 million km2, the second largest maritime area in the world, France must become a key player in this area, the least known on the planet.

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