PARIS \u2014 The French Army\u2019s Scorpion modernization program will likely suffer from this year\u2019s \u20ac850 million (U.S. $1 billion) defense budget cut, with Contact, a key software-defined radio, expected to be a casualty, Army Gen. Pierre de Villiers, former chief of staff, told members of Parliament before he resigned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt goes without saying that the Scorpion program is one of the critical elements in the budgetary combat,\u201d the former chief of staff told the National Assembly\u2018s defense and armed forces committee on July 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minutes of the committee hearing, which were recently released, are de Villiers\u2019 last remarks as chief of the armed forces before he resigned in protest against the slashed budget. His July 19 resignation came days after President Emmanuel Macron backed the defense spending cut.
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De Villiers also told legislators that even as Britain is leaving the European Union, known as Brexit, that country is, paradoxically, keen to hang onto the Lancaster House defense treaty with France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Force protection underlies the Scorpion program, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we do not receive the required funding, we will need to postpone this program, with all the consequences that will entail,\u201d he said. A spending cut will hurt Contact, which allows the Scorpion program to work, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The armed forces are interdependent in combat and depend on technology, with Scorpion taking an overall approach that includes munitions, spares, information systems and crew training rather than just \u201ca combat vehicle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut can we allow ourselves to send our soldiers into combat in 35-year-old troop carriers, when you can imagine the wear-out rate and level of protection? I say, \u2018No,\u2019 \u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thales supplies the Contact system and is an industrial partner with Nexter and Renault Trucks Defense on the Griffon troop carrier as well as the Jaguar reconnaissance and combat vehicle in the Scorpion program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On cooperation with Britain, de Villiers said: \u201cThere is a paradox: The more the British distance themselves from Europe, the closer they hang onto Lancaster House.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
European defense would be built on three pillars, he said: Britain, France and Germany, with other countries joining in on an ad hoc basis depending on \u201cconcrete projects and in a variable geometry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Villiers said the British and Germans met in his office last autumn, followed by a similar meeting in London. He added that a further meeting would be held in Berlin after the summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cooperation with Germany can be envisaged in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, in-flight tankers, transport aircraft, drones, logistics, security, and development, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is already French operational cooperation with the British in regard to the combined joint expeditionary force, and there are programs signaled in the Lancaster House treaty, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other countries could join in by 2025 on the European medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, he said. There is a stronger cooperative dynamic now, particularly with Germany, which is expected to boost defense spending in four years to 1.5 percent from 1.2 percent of gross domestic product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France has capability gaps, lacking helicopters, drones and in-flight tankers, forcing a delay in operations and missed opportunities, he added. The forces rely on support from the U.S. and other allies. Bulletproof vests, ammunition stocks and more armored vehicles are needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the military operations exceed by 30 percent the missions set out in the white paper on defense and national security, he said. Modernization of airborne and submarine nuclear deterrence will require annual spending to rise to \u20ac6 billion in 2025 from the present \u20ac3.9 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
France needs to spend \u20ac50 billion a year on defense by 2025, excluding pensions and overseas operations, if it is to meet the NATO target, he said. That calls for the 2017 budget to be \u201cabsolutely respected,\u201d increase in 2018 and see a \u20ac2 billion annual increase in the 2019-2025 military budget law, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That multiyear budget law will be based on a defense and national security review, due to be delivered Oct. 1, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe budget does not match up with what I have asked for \u2026 nor what the armed forces minister asked for,\u201d de Villiers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
De Villiers concluded his remarks to say that economic sovereignty did not contradict defense sovereignty. \u201cWhat is required is a fair and balanced way between the two,\u201d he said. The price would be potentially high if defense were forsaken, leading to operational withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Decisions would be needed to leave which theaters, which forces to lighten in domestic or foreign operations, and cut back on French ambitions at a time when many nations, \u201csome of which are unreasonable, are keen to have their voices heard in the concert of nations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSuch a decision would be respectable, but, politically, things need to be clear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was applause on all sides as the meeting closed, the official minutes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to a media leak of de Villiers\u2019 parliamentary remarks, in which he used an expletive to describe the defense cut, Macron said July 13 at an official garden party: \u201cI think it is not dignified to lay out certain debate in the public arena. I have commitments. I am your chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe commitments that I have to our citizens and the services, I know how to uphold. And in this respect, I have no need for pressure or comment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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