The French White Paper on defence and national security
Fifteen prescriptions
1. Force protection and land combat capabilities will benefit from the acquisition of new pieces of equipment, such as: 650 new generation infantry fighting vehicles (VBCI); 25,000 individual kits for the infantry combatant (Felin); hundreds of armoured cargo vehicles protecting against bombs and landmines; a new longrange rocket taking into account the prohibition of cluster-bomb ammunition; increased responsiveness in the acquisition process via crash programs.
2. Drones for surveillance and combat drones are in great demand for air-land operations. Fighter aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles increasingly complement each other.
3. Nuclear attack submarines carrying cruise missiles are a priority. Due to their stealth and virtually unlimited range, they represent versatile strategic systems that can be used for intelligence, protection of the nuclear submarines, escort of the aircraft carrier or special operations. The White Paper sets a target of six submarines. Cruise missiles will thereafter be carried by aircraft as well as by naval assets.
4. Large amphibious ships (Mistral class) have significant amphibious, airmobile and command capabilities. Together with 18 first-line frigates, they will constitute the backbone of the Marine nationale missions of presence and intervention. Four amphibious ships of that class should be available by 2020.
5. Detection and early warning capabilities represent one of the major innovations to be found in the White Paper. They are aimed at ballistic missile capabilities that could be targeted on France or Europe. They include very long range radars and geostationary satellites. France expects this programme to acquire a European dimension as soon as possible.
6. The air strike component (combat aircraft) will be reorganised as a single pool of 300 combat aircraft (Rafale and modernised Mirage 2000) from both services (Navy and Air Force), with management handed over to the Air Force. This new organisation should significantly increase synergies and the fighting potential of our air assets.
7. The priority given to satellites is manifest by doubling funding available for military programs (from a base of 380 M€ in 2008) and by establishing a Joint Space Command, under the authority of the Chairman of the Joint Staff. The Air Force will be tasked with the implementation and control of military space assets.
8. Cyber-war is a major concern for which the White Paper develops a two-prong strategy: on the one hand, a new concept of cyber-defence, organised in depth and coordinated by a new Security of Information Systems Agency under the purview of the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN); on the other hand, the establishment of an offensive cyber-war capability, part of which will come under the Joint Staff and the other part will be developed within specialised services.
9. Intelligence collection depends heavily on high-definition day and night imagery, to be deployed as a successor program to the Helios satellite series (the MUSIS program). Eavesdropping is just as important and depends on a variety of assets based on land, at sea and in the air. A space-based capability will be added (the CERES program).
10. The White Paper stresses the importance of civilian and civil-military operations in crisis management. It provides for the development of new capabilities within the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, by establishing an Operational Centre for External Crisis Management which will be responsible for advance planning, execution and termination of international crisis management activities. Specific statutes will facilitate mobilisation of civilian experts belonging to the Civil Service. Inter-ministerial funding of these activities will also be improved.
11. The nationwide emergency advance warning and information systems will be overhauled. The current system is based on air-raid sirens. The new system will combine targeted messages via SMS, media or e-mail together with a modernised air-raid siren network.
12. The Ministry of the Interior will establish an Inter-Ministerial Crisis Management Centre for the direction and control of crisis response operations on national territory. This operations centre will be located within the ministry (place Beauvau, in Paris).
13. The White Paper envisions three public Internet sites: - a “public-awareness” site dealing with new risks and threats and preparing the public at large to respond to emergency situations occurring on national territory; - a “cyber-defence” site specifically dedicated to prevention and response of cyber-attacks; - a site dedicated to the research community in matters dealing with national security.
14. The White Paper is in favour of a civic service and describes the various formats that could be considered. It also calls for an expansion of voluntary service, particularly in the form a “national security voluntary service” which could substitute for the current “citizen reserve” and be open to all persons willing to take part on national territory.
15. The White Paper stresses the significance of national commemoration of historical events. The most relevant dates are May 8, June 18 and November 11. This last date has a special European dimension that should be underlined in school curriculae.
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