The text must "continue to repair a defense tool damaged in the past by short-term policies," the minister said.
Anticipating the criticism of the oppositions who denounce the effects of announcements, the minister invited the deputies to "a moment of political truth", and to a debate "model against model".
If the 413.3 billion promised is a clear increase compared to the previous law (295 billion for 2019-2025), the oppositions intend to attack the text by several fronts, including the subject of the 13.3 billion that will depend on extra-budgetary resources. "They have always existed," Lecornu said.
Opponents of this LPM also accuse him of postponing the largest budget increases after 2027, and the end of Macron's second five-year term.
Criticizing those who "reduced the budgets of our armed forces when they were in charge", an allusion to the LR and the socialists, the minister stressed that the budget increases granted to the armies began in the previous five-year term.
"Our military spending must remain sustainable for our public finances," he also insisted, while the opposition intends to force the government to invest more during this five-year term.
Mr. Lecornu also argued that investments were defined "according to the need" of the armed forces and "the capacity of our industrialists to produce".
French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu attends the ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of the victory against the Nazi regime and the end of World War II in Paris, May 8, 2023 © Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP / Archives
The text should make it possible to modernize nuclear deterrence, improve the treatment of troops, and also invest in cyber, space and the seabed. Thirty billion must cover inflation.
But the LPM would also lead to a delay in deliveries of several major equipment (Scorpion armored vehicles, Rafale aircraft, defense and intervention frigates ...), which worries the opposition.
© 2023 AFP