, native_name_a = , native_name_r = , type = Ministry , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , logo = Ministère des Armées.svg , logo_width = 150 , logo_caption = Official logotype , image = Jielbeaumadier hotel de brienne exterieur paris 2008.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = Ministry of War , preceding2 = Ministry of the Navy , preceding3 = Ministry of the Air , dissolved = , superseding1 = , superseding2 = , jurisdiction =

Government of France The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

, headquarters =

Hôtel de Brienne The Hôtel de Brienne is an 18th-century French townhouse ('' hôtel particulier'') at 14 rue Saint-Dominique in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. It serves as the official residence of the minister of defense. It was built in 1724 to the designs o ...

Paris 7e The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''le septième''. The arrondissement, called Palais-Bourbon in a r ...

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

- Hexagone Balard
Paris 15e,

, coordinates =
, motto = , employees = 271,268 , budget = €54.494 billion , minister1_name = Sébastien Lecornu , minister1_pfo = , minister2_name = Minister of the Armed Forces , minister2_pfo = , deputyminister1_name = , deputyminister1_pfo = , deputyminister2_name = , deputyminister2_pfo = , chief1_name =

Thierry Burkhard Thierry Burkhard (born 30 July 1964) is a French Army general. He served as the Chief of Staff of the French Army from 2019 until July 14, 2021, when he was appointed as the Chief of the Defence Staff. Burkhard has served in the 2ème REP and h ...

, chief1_position = Chief of the Defence Staff , chief2_name = , chief2_position = , public_protector = , deputy = , parent_department = , parent_agency = , parent_agency_type = , child1_agency = , child2_agency = , keydocument1 = , website = , agency_id = , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , footnotes = , embed = The Ministry of Armed Forces (, ) is the ministry of the

in charge of managing the

French Armed Forces The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. Franc ...

inside and outside French soil. Its head is the Minister of the Armed Forces. From 1947 until 2017, the Ministry was designated the Ministry of Defence (french: Ministère de la Défense). It is France's

ministry of defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

Organisation

Minister of the Armed Forces

The head of the department is the Minister of the Armed Forces. The current officeholder has been Sébastien Lecornu since 2022. Currently, he reports directly to the President of the Republic, the Commander-in-Chief of the

. His mission is to organize and manage the country Defense Policy in liaison with other departments. He is also in charge of mobilizing troops and managing the military infrastructure. He is responsible of the French Armed forces security to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Chief of the Defence Staff

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA) reports directly to the Minister. He is in charge of conducting operations, troops training, troops inspection, programming the forces future, and gathering and analyzing Intelligence. He is also in charge of maintaining relationships with other countries. The position of Chief of the Defence Staff was held by

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Pierre de Villiers Pierre François Marie Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon (born 26 July 1956) ''dit'' Pierre de Villiers is an Army general (France), Army General of the French Army and a former Chief of the Defence Staff (France), Chief of the Defence Staff. Foll ...

until 20 July 2017, when he handed his resignation without an official reason. However sources suggest that this was done as a protest against the announced defence budget cuts in contradiction to previous assurances for increased defence spendings.

François Lecointre François Gérard Marie Lecointre (; born 6 February 1962) is a French army general who served as Chief of the Defence Staff between 2017 and 2021. As a captain, with Lieutenant Bruno Heluin (platoon leader) as the company commanding officer, he ...

took over as Chief of Staff of the Armies on the following day.

SGA

The Secretary General for Administration is in charge of the general administration of the Department. He assists the Minister for: * Elaborating Budget * Legal advice * Human resources policy * House resources * Social Management The position is held by Jean-Paul Bodin.

DGA

The ''Direction Générale de l'Armement'' is the

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

service of the Department. It is in charge of furnishing equipment to all branches of the Armed Forces and creating the future equipment of the armies. The service manages more than 80 projects and commanded more than 7.5 billion euros to the national Industry in 2011.

Headquarters

The headquarters of the Ministry of the Armies is at the Hotel de Brienne, in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris but all services have been moved to a new headquarters. On 5 November 2015, French president

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

inaugurated The new French Defence Ministry headquarters at Balard Site, nicknamed Hexagone Balard or "Balardgon" in reference to its American counterpart

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

. Hexagone Balard concentrates all components of the French Armed Forces, and houses the Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Navy, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force, the Direction générale de l'armement, the General Secretary for the Administration and the Chief of the Defence Staff, while the office of the Minister of the Armed Forces stays in the Hotel de Brienne. It is a 250 000 square metres (2690978 Sq Ft) building on a 39.5 acre (16.5 hectares) ground. Its nickname "Hexagon" was given to the project because of the shape of the ministry building. The center of the quadrilateral that forms the whole of the West plot consists of two buildings of hexagonal shape.

References

{{authority control Armies

Organisation

Minister of the Armed Forces

Chief of the Defence Staff

SGA

DGA

Headquarters

See also

References