France plans huge missile increase in new defense push, document shows

PARIS — France will expand missile and drone stocks by up to 400 percent by 2030, according to a draft military planning law seen by POLITICO.

Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed how quickly munitions are consumed in high-intensity warfare. Now, Paris is earmarking billions of euros to boost existing stockpiles and replace air-defense missiles its air force has fired in the Gulf to fend off Iranian drone attacks.

“The urgent need, of course, is for munitions,” French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu recently told lawmakers, amid broader European fears of a conflict with Russia by the end of the decade.

On April 8, the French government will present the updated military planning law, which allocates €8.5 billion for drones and missiles by 2030. The bill is a multiyear financial framework that sets out targets for purchasing and developing weapons.

“This effort is reflected in an increase in orders and deliveries and in the adaptation of industrial infrastructure through co-financing of priority production capacities,” the 64-page draft reads. “It is being carried out with a view to preparing for a ‘war economy.'”

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, most European countries have rushed to develop their defense capabilities, spending billions of euros on armaments. That trend accelerated after Donald Trump was reelected as U.S. president over fears Washington could either pull out of NATO or, more broadly, no longer guarantee Europe’s security.

The French military planning law foresees spending €63.3 billion for defense in 2027, €68.3 billion in 2028, €72.8 billion in 2029 and €76.3 billion in 2030. Once the bill is passed by parliament, the sums will still need to be approved every year by lawmakers in concrete budget legislation, while capability targets will have to be translated into contracts by the arms procurement agency.

The targets for drones and missiles are striking. France wants to increase its stocks of loitering munitions such as kamikaze drones by 400 percent, its Safran-made AASM Hammer guided bombs by 240 percent, and its MBDA-manufactured Aster and Mica missiles by 30 percent.

The military planning law’s future new contracts come as the French state and industry have been finger-pointing over the lack of mass weapons production. Weapons-makers have accused the government of not placing enough orders, while the government has wanted the weapons-makers to invest in their production tools before signing deals.

A French official previously told POLITICO that arms manufacturers should be ready to absorb a large increase in demand. Last week, MBDA CEO Eric Béranger told reporters that the missile-maker will boost output by 40 percent this year, including by doubling the production of Aster missiles.

Munition stocks aside, the draft document shows France doesn’t aim to expand its armed forces: There are no planned purchases of additional Rafale fighter jets or frigates, for example, despite past promises by French President Emmanuel Macron and Lecornu.

Paris is, however, mulling the development of a new tank. The draft shows France will launch studies to assess what could succeed the current French flagship Leclerc tank.

That comes after growing calls from lawmakers and industry to push the government to acknowledge that the Franco-German Main Ground Combat System tank might be late and that the French land forces need an interim solution when the Leclerc combat vehicles go out of service by the late 2030s.

“We must not let 2026 go to waste,” French MP François Cormier-Bouligeon, a lawmaker on the National Assembly’s defense committee, told reporters this week.

The draft plan signals Paris is anticipating potential delays in the next-generation tank developed together with Germany, after the government claimed for months the program was on track.

France has also apparently killed the Eurodrone, a long-range reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle being developed together with Germany, Italy and Spain, as the draft allocates no money to the much-delayed European program.

While the planning runs until 2030, parliamentary and industry officials expect Macron’s successor to draft a new one after the 2027 presidential election.

But France enjoys wide consensus on the need for increased defense spending, with far-right leader and presidential front-runner Jordan Bardella saying last month that Paris should spend 3.5 percent of GDP on military expenditures, in line with NATO targets.