2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security
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The 2013 French
White Paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white pape ...
on Defense and National Security is the most recent defence reform of the French Armed Forces and the fourth ever defence white paper in French history. It was released on the 29 April 2013. The white paper reaffirmed France's commitment to
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, the security of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
as well as its enhanced defence-relationship with the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
after the 2010
Lancaster House treaties The Lancaster House Treaties of 2010 are two treaties between the United Kingdom and France for defence and security cooperation. They were signed at 10 Downing Street on 2 November 2010 by British prime minister David Cameron and French Presid ...
on defence and security co-operation.


Summary

* Additional cuts of 24,000 personnel on top of the 54,000 already cut in the
2008 French White Paper on Defence and National Security The 2008 French White Paper on Defence and National Security was a defence reform of the French Armed Forces. On 31 July 2007, president Nicolas Sarkozy ordered M. Jean-Claude Mallet, a member of the Council of State, to head up a 35-member commi ...
. * Core defence budget frozen at 31.4 billion euros and reduced to 1.5% of GDP. However, the defence budget will continue to remain the third largest in NATO after the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. * A "Joint Reaction Force" of 2,300 personnel maintained a high readiness and the ability to deploy up-to 15,000 troops in a single overseas deployment. * Particular emphasis on developing intelligence gathering capabilities, cyber warfare, the strengthening of special forces and the purchase of
unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...
s (UAVs). * Number of ships, helicopters, transport aircraft and tanks to be reduced.Rapid Fire April 29, 2013: With New Defense Whitepaper, France Dodges Necessary Tradeoffs
/ref>


French Army

* Reduction in personnel to the "operational force" of the army from 88,000 troops to 66,000. * The French Army will restructure to 7 Brigades; 2 heavy, 3 medium and 2 light role. * A reduction of 50 Leclerc main battle tanks to an operational fleet of 200. * 80 attack helicopters, 115 support helicopters, 40 reconnaissance helicopters. * Purchase of 30 "tactical" UAVs, most likely the British
Watchkeeper WK450 The Thales Watchkeeper WK450 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for all weather, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) use by the British Army. It is provided under an £800 million contract with UAS Tactica ...
.


French Navy

* The possibility of a new aircraft carrier has been officially abandoned. * The possibility of a 4th
Mistral-class amphibious assault ship The ''Mistral'' class is a class of five amphibious assault ships built by France. Also known as helicopter carriers, and referred to as "projection and command ships" (french: links=no, bâtiments de projection et de commandement or BPC), a '' ...
has been officially abandoned. * The 5 La Fayette-class light frigates which were re-classified as "1st rank frigates" in the 2008 white paper will be upgraded with a sonar. * A reduction in the number of "1st rank frigates" from 18 to 15. The figure of 15 includes "less powerful combatants" such as the La Fayette-class. * Expected deliveries of FREMM multipurpose frigates to the French Navy reduced from 11 to 8. * The two
Horizon-class frigate The Horizon class (French: Classe Horizon; Italian: Classe Orizzonte) is a class of air-defence destroyers in service with the French and Italian navies. They are designated as destroyers by the Italians and using NATO classification but are r ...
s will be the two primary air-defence frigates in service with the Navy when the ageing Cassard-class are decommissioned. However, the possibility remains that out of the 8
FREMM The FREMM (French: ''Frégate Européenne Multi-Mission''; Italian: ''Fregata Europea Multi-Missione''), which stands for "European multi-purpose frigate", is a Franco-Italian family of multi-purpose frigates designed by Naval Group and Fincant ...
destined for the French Navy, 2 could be configured with enhanced air-defence capabilities (i.e. the FREDA derivative). * 6 light surveillance frigates to remain in service (the Floréal-class). * A total of 15 offshore patrol vessels. * The construction of 6 Barracuda-class submarines. * The last of the
Foudre-class landing platform dock The ''Foudre''-class landing platform dock is a class of landing platform docks designed and constructed for the French Navy. Designated ''Transport de Chalands de Débarquement'', they were intended to replace the ageing and the construction o ...
s ( L9012 ''Siroco'') to be decommissioned. * The white paper asserted that a naval task group would require "collaboration" with the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
to sustain operations. Bringing the Lancaster House treaties into practice.


French Air Force

* The air force and navy will operate no more than 225 fast-jet combat aircraft (reduced from 300) consisting of;
Dassault Rafale The Dassault Rafale (, literally meaning "gust of wind", and "burst of fire" in a more military sense) is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range ...
multi-role fighters and modernised
Mirage 2000-D The Dassault Mirage 2000N is a variant of the Mirage 2000 designed for nuclear strike. It formed the core of the French air-based strategic nuclear deterrent. The Mirage 2000D is its conventional attack counterpart. Development The Mirage ...
strike aircraft. * The Mirage 2000-N nuclear strike force will remain. * The number of expected Dassault Rafale orders will be reduced. * Ability to deploy up to 40 fast-jet combat aircraft in an over seas conflict. * 4 air force and 3 navy AEW&C systems. * A fleet of refueling tanker and transports aircraft comprising; 12
Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
refueling tankers (reduced from 14) and 50 tactical transport aircraft (reduced from 70).


References

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External links


Défense : les cinq éléments marquants du livre blanc

Hollande sanctuarise la dissuasion
Defence white papers
France 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 ...