France Defence and Security Report Q3 2009

President Nicolas Sarkozy announced in March 2009 that France would rejoin NATO’s unified military structure, more than 40 years after Charles de Gaulle walked out in protest at US domination. Following confirmation by the National Assembly, despite an angry debate, the reintegration was formally approved in early April at the NATO summit in Strasbourg, commemorating the alliance’s 60th anniversary.

At the April 2009 NATO Summit in Strasbourg, NATO nations also agreed to deploy extra troops to enhance security operations during the run up to Presidential election in Afghanistan in August. France declined to send any more troops but had already announced force enhancements to its 2,780 strong contingent. These include deploying additional unmanned aerial vehicles and Tiger attack helicopter during 2009.

France has taken an increasing role in operations to contain piracy off the coast of Somalia. It bases a strong naval contingent at Dijbouti which mounts regular patrols into the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

Atlantique maritime patrol aircraft also support these operations. French naval vessels have taken part in EU and NATO operations off the coast of Somalia and provide logistic support for allied forces at its bases in Djiobouti. On April 29, President Sarkozy joined Spanish Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero in calling for an international conference to formulate a response to the crisis in Somalia. On April 14, the French frigate Nivose captured a pirate mother ship and two raiding craft after responding to a distress call from a merchant vessel in the Indian Ocean.

During 2009 the French government launched a major drive to boost defence exports to the Middle East.

President Sarkozy made a high profile visit to Iraq and secured a EUR360mn order for 24 Eurocopter EC635 helicopters. This is the first French export to Iraq for almost 20 years. In May, Sarkozy was in the UAE to open the new French military base in the Emirates, which is seen as a key element in attempts to sell Rafale fighters to the UAE Air Force.

The fate of the Airbus A400M programme continues to be a major headache for Airbus and its parent EADS. The A400M prototype is still unable to fly and the company cannot give any firm indication when technical problems with the aircraft’s new engine will be resolved. Crucially, the company set a deadline to fly the aircraft by April 1 2009, potentially voiding the customer nations’ commitment to buying the aircraft. The nations are to meet again in July to decide what to do about the so far ill-fated programme.

EADSs has set aside more than EUR2bn to cover expected losses on the programme.

Major restructuring of the ownership of the other key players in the French defence and aerospace industry, Thales and Dassault, took place on May 20. This saw aircraft-maker Dassault acquire the Alcatel-Lucent 20.8% stake in defence electronics company Thales. In view of the purchase, veteran Thales chief executive and chairman, Denis Ranque, was eased out and replaced by former head of Nexter, Luc Vigneron. The move was orchestrated by the French government and offers a means to achieve greater consolidation of the country’s defence industry. The collapse of the civil executive jet market has severely affected Dassault and further consolidations can be expected.