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Le Figaro; The oldest newspaper in France
Topic Started: Feb 28 2013, 03:31 AM (48 Views)
winisle
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winisle
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Hollande Statement with regards to Military Drawbacks

There has been a lot of discussions concerning the military capabilities of the French Armed Forces, and the drawbacks that the French Armed Forces has had to experience during our work to reduce the deficit and the debt to manageble levels.

The gravest threat that France faces today isn't one of tanks, planes or nuclear missiles, it is one of social despair, of unemployment and of financial instability. It is my task, and I take it most seriously, to guide France out of this, and towards a more stable future.

I can lay the doubts of those that fears that the French Armed Forces is unable to perform its tasks to rest. France still maintains the same number of combat brigades as before, but will see this amount reduced by one, as the French Armed Forces are moving towards a structure that holds MORE demi-brigade units, units designed for expeditionary and task-force missions, such as we have seen in the succesful Operation Sereval.

The French Navy can and does maintain a creadible nuclear detterent using three Triomphant type SSBN's, of that you can rest assured. On of these powerful submarines, carrying a large number of our nations detterent will be at sea, ready, at any given time, just like Russian, American or British submarines maintains a similar vigilance.

There has been talks about the reductions in the procurement budget hurting the French defense industry. I stand here before you today stating that the French defense industry can be looking ahead at the future with confidence.
Dassault holds contracts that will see them building 20+ Rafales a year until 2016, and we forsee a need to replace other plans after that. Nexter will be asked to replace the last of our AMX-10P with VBCI, and also tasked with other replacements and developments.

Where the French defense industry will be really busy the coming years is in the naval area though, with the current development of the Admiral class destroyer, which will be the future primary air defence and land attack destroyer of the French Navy, and of the development and production of Porte-Aviation 2. High level talks are being conducted with friendly nations concerning their interest in French ships, and we can assure the French naval industry that they will be very busy in the coming decade.

To conclude this statement, we took this decision fully knowing the consequenses, and considering them. A France with a vibrant and healthy economy can and mostl likely will, adjust its military spendings in an upward fashion if it is needed, but a France with an ailing economy can not do this.
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winisle
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Comments on UK Minister of Defense statements

Following the scathing remarks made by Secretary Hammond, Le Figaro has tsarted an investigation into the state of the French Armed Forces, to determine if the position taken by Secretary Hammond is correct, and that the reductions in expenditure, reductions in procurement budget, and reduction in materials, will result in a diminished military capability and place French soldiers at risk.

Secretary Hammond puts great emphasis on the virtue and capabilities of the main battle tank, and it is true that these steel behemonths are very potential machines of war. So lets look at the matter objectivly. France has, after the decision, 300 LeClerc tanks in service, while the United Kingdom has 227 Challenger 2 tanks in service. Clearly, France has more tanks than the United Kingdom, and if the number of tanks are a vital factor, Le Figaro calls upon Secretary Hammond to buy more tanks for the British Army!

Secretary Hammond goes on to state that the French soldier will be forced to walk 10 miles, as we have retired our troop transport vehicles. Lets look at the truth behind that comment as well. The United Kingdom has around 2000 infantry fighting vehicles or armoured personnel carriers, as well as around 1800 multipurpose armoured vehicles. France has around 4700 infantry fighting vehicles or armoured personnel carriers as well as more than 2000 multipurpose armoured vehicles (granted that they are of a smaller size than the British ones). This should make it clear that there is no risk that a French soldier will be forced to walk due to lack of transport.

Secretary Hammond just briefly mentions fighters, perhaps because there where no reductions there, or is it because the Armée de l'Air has more front-line fighters than the RAF?
The final thing we will be looking at is the French nuclear detterent, and there we just have a question to put to the French people, as well as to Secretary Hammond; Is close to 200 warheads, each almost 7 times as powerful as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima not enough? It is this papers fondest wish that these weapons never will have to be utilized.

Secretary Hammond has one thing right, and that is that if the current level of expenditure is maintained over a prolonged period of time, then we will see reductions in the capabilities of the French Armed Forces, as equipment that is modern today will not be replaced with as capable equipment, or in the same numbers. These concerns, we brought to Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Defence.

Quote:
 
Q: Have you had the opportunity to read Secretary Hammonds remarks?
A: Yes, I have, and they hurt me, as they are fundamentally untrue. France has not done anything to jeopardize the security of its troops in the recent wave of cuts, rather, we have taken an important step towards securing a working fiscal situation, one that gurantees a strong French military in the future. The Defence and Security Co-operation Treaty between France and the United Kingdom is live and well in my mind, as our actions in no way has diminished our capabilities with regards to our commitment there.

Q: Secretary Hammond asks "Is France really a dependable ally?". What do you have to say to him in that regard?
A: France not being dependable? I deeply resent the comment, and I demand that Secretary Hammond issue an written apology for this! France is, has always been, and will always be, a strong and dependable friend and ally to those that seeks our friendship. The current reductions in military spendings has not changed that.

Q: What is waiting in the future for the French Armed Forces?
A: We have just recently confirmed the design of the FREDA version of the FREMM frigate. The FREDA is to become the mainstay of our naval anti-air capabilities, accompaying our carriers and amphibious warships to provide area air defence and land attack for them. Yes, I can see your question, I did say carriers. We are in far-reaching discussions with Brazil concerning a cooperation on the PA2 carrier design. It will be a more capable design than the Charles de Gaulle, and it will most likely be designed to carry an increased amount of Rafale multirole fighters.
On the Rafale, there I can tell you that we expect to take delivery of 115 Rafale C fighters before the end of 2020, of which 70 already is ordered. That is for the Armée de l'Air alone, not counting the additional 49 Rafale M we are expecting to order for the Naval Aviation.
I can also reveal that we will put in an order for the fourth Mistral class amphibious transport, as well as for other ships the coming year. All this should provide sufficient proof that, even though we currently are working on a reduced budget, the French Armed Forces is a modern and evolving force.

Finally, I would like to announce that the French Army will undergo a transformation in the coming years, one that will see the creation of three Armoured Brigade Groups, and three Light Armoured Brigade Groups, as well as ten Demi-Brigade Groups of various types, apart from the Outre-Mere forces that will mostly remain as they are today. It is our belief that this will provide a more flexible force structure, and thus eanble us to respond to various military crisises in an efficient and appropriate manner. The numbers of deployable headquarters will also be increased from three to four.
Q: Thank you


So, with that, Le Figaro looks at the French Armed Forces with confidence and expectations, but we will be sure to return and cover any changes that warrants it.


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