History. The budget 2018 of the ministry of the Armed forces is a net increase of € 1.7 billion (34.4 billion euros, of which 650 million is dedicated to the additional costs of overseas operations) compared with that of 2017 (32.7 billion). And not 1.8 billion as had been promised by Emmanuel Macron. However, the minister Florence Parly can rejoice in this leap forward, even if the end of the management of the budget of 2017 promises to be terrible for his ministry. The defence effort will 1,82% of GDP (compared with 1,77% in 2017 and 1.78% in 2016),
If Bercy does not cancel a portion of its budget in the course of the year, it will see the investment credit (program 146 and 178) to grow by 7%, from $ 17.3 billion in 2017 to 18.5 billion euros in 2018. This will renew more quickly some hardware out of breath and, in fact, the modernization of the armed forces. This is indeed an unprecedented effort in favour of the defence.
Increase credits of the MCO and the deterrence
This effort goes, of course, by an increase of the appropriations for the maintenance of the equipment (MCO or maintaining in operational condition), a very sensitive subject in the military. They will increase to about 450 million euros compared to 2017 to reach $ 3.9 billion (+ 13%). The nuclear deterrence also takes advantage of the rising trend. It will see its increase in appropriations of almost 180 million euros. An increase of 4.5%, which allows to start the modernization of the two components of deterrence.
In this context, the ministry will launch several large orders, including a submarine, Barracuda, twenty armoured vehicle Griffon and three aircraft-tanker transport MRTT. In addition, the renovation of 55 Mirage 2000D and 50 tanks Leclerc will allow the armed forces to regenerate its equipment worn out by their intensive use in OVERSEAS operations and to recover oxygen as part of power projection. In total, the program 146 (Equipment) will take 10.2 billion of credit in a very slight increase of 2%, while the 178 (preparation and employment of forces) will have $ 8.1 billion euros, an increase of 10%.
