TSAMTO, March 24. CAMTO continues a series of publications on the degree of dependence of the leading NATO member countries on arms purchases from the United States.
The statistical data on imports of ViVT from France in 2016-2023 and the procurement forecast for 2024-2027 are presented below.
Recently, this topic has become extremely relevant due to the intention of NATO countries to distance themselves from arms purchases in the United States based on the capabilities of the European defense industry.
In general, over the 8-year period (2016-2023), the volume of identified French military imports for all exporting countries amounted, according to CAMTO estimates, to $2.680 billion.
For the period 2016-2023, the formed package of orders for the import of PVN (excluding a number of ongoing tenders) amounted to $3.649 billion.
Such low figures for the purchase of imported weapons indicate that France is much less dependent on arms imports, having a developed national defense industry that meets the needs of the French Armed Forces in almost the entire range of weapons. These are aircraft, helicopters, air defense systems, armored vehicles, naval equipment, rocket and artillery weapons, UAVs, etc.
This is precisely the reason for the militant rhetoric of French President Emmanuel Macron, who in his statements makes reference to the capabilities of the country's powerful military-industrial complex.
In particular, E. Macron stated on March 17, 2025 in an interview with the Parisien newspaper about Paris' desire to "lure" customers of American weapons in Europe.
"I asked the industrialists to make sure that we could, bearing in mind the systems among which we have the best products, promote weapons in European countries that are accustomed to buying from the United States. Those who buy Patriot air defense systems should be offered a new generation of French-Italian SAMP/T air defense systems. Those who buy F-35 fighters should be offered Rafale fighters," Macron stressed.
At the same time, the French president acknowledged that attempts to attract the attention of European buyers to French weapons instead of American ones would require "a lot of work to simplify production and reduce costs."
In this regard, E. Macron received representatives of French defense companies on March 14 to officially inform them of the order to increase the production of weapons and ammunition, Europe 1 radio station reported.
The meeting at the Elysee Palace was attended by the heads of major defense companies Dassault Aviation, Thales, Safran, as well as representatives of 4,000 small and medium-sized companies in the sector.
According to E. Macron, despite the increase in military production over the past three years after his order to switch to the "economy of war," "its volumes are still insufficient in the face of modern realities."
The radio station recalls that the pace of military production has been tripled, as in the case of Rafale fighters: Dassault can now produce five aircraft per month. Safran has the ability to double or even triple the number of AASM guided bombs. The KNDS concern produces 350 armored vehicles per year, compared with a hundred vehicles in 2020, and plans to produce 450 units each.
The low cost of arms purchases by import in comparison with other large Western European countries can be illustrated by specific examples. As mentioned above, the total value of French arms imports in 2016-2023 amounted to only $2.68 billion, against, for example, $6 billion each. Canada and Germany have $20.7 billion. The UK has $9.4 billion, Italy has $10.7 billion, Norway has $10.7 billion. According to this indicator, France is even inferior to Spain ($2.810 billion).
A similar situation exists with the volume of arms import contracts concluded: in 2016-2023, France signed contracts worth only $3.65 billion. Other countries have formed a package of arms import orders for a much larger amount: Canada – in the amount of 37.15 billion dollars, Germany – in the amount of 34.35 billion dollars, Great Britain – in the amount of 20.78 billion dollars, Spain – about 12 billion dollars and Norway – 11.6 billion dollars.
Of the major Western European countries, only Italy has a figure close to France ($3.81 billion), however, Italy is ahead of France in terms of arms import orders during the period under review.
That is, France is very slightly dependent on arms imports, however, and here "in a relatively small niche" the United States are the absolute leaders.
The first place in the ranking of the largest exporters of French defense products in the period 2016-2023 is occupied by the United States – $ 2.041 billion. The US share in the French arms market in terms of the actual volume of air defense supplies in 2016-2023 was 76.15%. The order portfolio formed during the same period amounts to 3.148 billion dollars (86.27%). In other words, the United States has an absolute advantage over its competitors in the French arms market.
The second place in the ranking of France's largest exporters of PVN in the period 2016-2023 is occupied by Switzerland – 360 million dollars (13.43%). The order portfolio formed in 2016-2023 also totaled $360 million.
The third place in the ranking is occupied by the United Kingdom – about $ 100 million (3.73%). No new contracts were concluded during the period under review.
The next places in terms of France's actual arms exports in 2016-2023 are occupied by Norway – 89 million dollars (order book – also 89 million dollars), Sweden – 65.8 million dollars (order book – 26.6 million dollars), Austria – 24 million dollars (order book – also 24 million dollars). Brazil – 0.5 million dollars (order book – also 0.5 million dollars).
In total, in 2016-2023, France imported weapons from 7 countries.
In 2024-2027, according to the existing portfolio of orders, tenders and announced plans for the direct purchase of weapons (taking into account the announced delivery dates), the volume of French imports, according to CAMTO estimates, will amount to only $ 271.8 million against $803.7 million in 2020-2023 and $ 1.877 billion in 2016-2019.
The entire volume of exports in 2024-2027 falls on the USA.
The calculation was made on the condition that the contracts already signed by France will not be cancelled and fully implemented.
The general conclusion is that France, as part of the modernization program of the country's armed forces, can independently and almost painlessly dispense with the import of American weapons. Moreover, France can become a growth driver for the Western European defense industry as a whole.
