The war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat to Europe have created a disturbing climate in the European Union. There is also an awareness of a lack of preparation of its armed forces for a potential conflict due to the reduced budget.
After President Emmanuel Macron threatened Russia to place European troops on Ukrainian territory “sooner or later” as part of his so-called “hybrid strategy”, European countries are wondering on the state of its armed forces, its level of training and its logistics.
France and Britain, Europe’s two nuclear powers, have not invested enough to face a high-conflict war. Its armed forces have been drastically reduced after the fall of the Berlin Wall, as well as its equipment.
According to Global Firepower, France is the seventh largest military power in the world and the first in Europe (excluding Russia). His army does 200,000 soldiers and 40,000 reservists. In 2022, its defense budget was $40.9 billion, or approximately €36.6 billion.
Britain without ammunition or planes
Britain is one of the closest allies of Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky. They
There are special forces in charge of Western military aid on site.
British soldiers during exercises with NATO. Photo: Reuters“The British Army He doesn’t have enough money to buy ammunition. that it faces the threats it faces,” a senior general warned, revealing the Ministry of Defense shopping list to Rishi Sunak.
Lieutenant General Sir Rob Magowan, deputy chief of the defense staff, said that Grant Shapps, the defense secretary, and his military chiefs had told the prime minister that They needed “a bigger budget to better protect the UK”.
This included money for munitions and an integrated air and missile defense system. which would protect UK assets from attacks from the airboth abroad and at home.
Magowan told MPs on the defense select committee that he had asked Sunak for “additional resources”.
“The amount of money we’re spending on ammunition right now, it does not cover, across all sectors, the threats we face“warned the British Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff.
British Defense Minister Grant Shapps, who has already said he believes in the defense budget
should be increased from 2.27% of GDP to 3% in the new parliament, he said there is “a wide range of weapons” he would like to buy.
French and Spanish forces during a NATO operation in March. Photo: Reuters Magowan’s revelation about shortcomings in Britain’s military capabilities will increase pressure on Sunak to increase the defense budget.
Mark Francois, a Brexit supporter and former Armed Forces minister who sits on the committee, said that if there was a missile attack on the UK, “We would be practically blind” because the early warning planes had been retired several years ago and their replacements They arrive years late.
Suspend arms sales to Israel
Sunak is also under pressure suspend arms sales to Israel. According to former diplomats and military leaders, UK-made components are being used in a way that breaches international humanitarian law.
The UK has authorized at least £489 million in military exports to Israel since 2015, including components for fighter planes, missiles, tanks, small arms and ammunition.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Brigadier John Deverell, former director of diplomacy at the Ministry of Defence, and more than a dozen former ambassadors
they said they were “deeply concerned” by the events in Gaza.
They pointed to evidence indicating that weapons with British components had been used in the operations they were provoking “avoidable” civilian casualties. and the destruction of medical infrastructure. They said the F-35 stealth plane contained many UK-made parts and was being used devastate parts of Gaza, causing immense suffering.
British signatories included Sir Vincent Fean, former ambassador to Libya and consul general in Jerusalem, Frances Guy, former ambassador to Lebanon and Yemen, Lord Green of Deddington, former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Syria, and Major General Charles Vyvyan , former defense attaché in Washington.
France with problems facing a conflict
Last February, the head of state, Emmanuel Macron, had not ruled out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine. “Nothing should be excluded” declared during the international meeting in support of Ukraine.
The president also reported a “consensus” among many European leaders and personalities that “within a few years “We should prepare for Russia’s attack.” in their countries, according to France 24.
French forces are insufficiently armed against the threat of high-intensity conflict. Photo: Wojtek Radwanski/AFPThe situation of the military in France It’s no different from the English.. According to a recent parliamentary report, French forces are insufficiently armed to face the threat of high-intensity conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine. Without implying that the worst is yet to come, it is about preparing the army and society as a whole.
Emmanuel Macron, during his congratulations to the armed forces, presented the next military planning law 2024-2030 on January 20 at the Mont de Marsan military base.
With a budget of 413 billion euros, its ambition is, thanks to four pillars, to “transform” the armies. The text is under the sign of the transformation of the armies and will be presented to Parliament.
Return of the war: increase the budget
During his speech to the military, the president justified his law on military programming: “War returns, fully and cruelly, to European soil. We clearly see that we need to reassess our ambitions, sometimes reorient our forecasts, learn all the lessons of this new context and be able to plan for the coming years. “Our operational ambitions for 2030 need to be reviewed to better ensure our ability to deal with the prospect of the possible return of high-intensity fighting,” she said.
France towards the “war economy”
France he is willing to move towards a “war economy”.
France “does not exclude” calls for industry to transition to a “war economy” accelerate the production of ammunition and weapons.
From words to deeds? Emmanuel Macron repeats it periodically: France must move to a “war economy” to support Ukraine.
Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, announced in a press conference on Tuesday that he “does not rule out” the requisitioning of “personnel, stocks or production tools”, or even “the imposition on industrialists to give priority to military needs”. It invokes “what the law allows the minister and the general delegate for armaments (DGA) to do”. That is, if the numbers weren’t there in terms of production rates and deadlines.”
“France has a meeting with its defense industry. An industry, in war economy mode, with a faster and stronger production capacity,” he told the military in January.
The minister “will not refrain from doing so in the coming weeks”. “Russia must not win the war,” reiterated French President Macron in an interview with Le Parisien.
The law authorizing requisitions
To justify these requisitions, the Minister of the Armed Forces uses the law on military planning 2024-2030, promulgated in August.
He predicts it in the event of “a threat, current or foreseeable, that affects activities essential to the life of the Nation, the protection of the population, the integrity of the territory or the permanence of the institutions of the Republic or nature to justify compliance with the State’s international commitments in matters of defensethe requisition of any person, natural or legal, and of any property and the services necessary for their fulfillment can be decided by decree in the Council of Ministers”.
The French army
“France has the ability to engage a coalition division, or about 20,000 men, in thirty days” wrote General Pierre Schill. “It is equipped with the means to command a coalition army corps, that is, up to 60,000 men, combining a French division and national capabilities at the top of the military spectrum, with one or more allied divisions. “
General Pierre Schill continued: the French army “is prepared. Whatever the evolution of the international situation, the French can be convinced: his soldiers will respond“.
Is 20,000 soldiers a significant mobilization?
“This is what the French army can do today in the event of a serious crisis,” explained General Jérôme Pellistrandi, former general and director of the Revue Défense Nationale. “This is what we can do today at a military level with materials and equipment, together with our partners from NATO and the European Union”. The duration of “thirty days is the operating contract”.
“The military force will be formed according to need: parachute brigade, infantry, artillery, engineers,” explained General Jérôme Pellistrandi. The French army, whose military and land operations command is based in Lille, has 77,000 men in total.
There are no French forces in Ukraine. A battalion of around 800 French soldiers is deployed in Romania, in Cincu. France provides the multinational command of NATO soldiers. Its mission: to ensure the security of Europe’s eastern flank to avoid an extension of the conflict into neighboring countries. Further north in Europe, there are fighter planes stationed in Lithuania, to protect the Baltics from the Russians. More than 2,000 French soldiers are participating in Europe’s eastern flank, the Ministry of the Armed Forces indicated.
France is also the only European state that has the ability to assess the space situation: detection and tracking of satellites in low orbit using the Air Force radars, GRAVES and SATAN (COSMOS instrument).
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.