After a year of presidential elections, the update of the Military Programming Law (LPM) will not change the format of the armed forces. “This responsibility falls to the next President of the Republic,” said a close source to the JDD at the Hôtel de Brienne. By the end of the LPM in 2030, the institution will still have slightly over 200,000 soldiers, 220 combat aircraft, as many Leclerc tanks, and fifteen first-rate frigates. However, the bill adopted on Tuesday, May 19th, plans for an increase of 36 billion euros, with a strong focus on certain priority areas.
Long considered taboo and largely underinvested for decades, ammunition stocks will receive significant attention, with an additional 8.5 billion euros between 2026 and 2030 (+53%). Orders will focus on artillery shells, missiles (surface-to-air, anti-tank, anti-ship, cruise), and guided bombs. The objective is twofold: to strengthen reserves and adapt the industrial apparatus to engage in high-intensity operations, especially as France quickly ran out of MICA missiles to defend its Gulf partners against Iran.
It is precisely in a context marked by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East that the government justifies this additional 36 billion euros, two and a half years after the vote on a ‘historic’ LPM of over 400 billion. “This law allows us to respond to the acceleration of the threat,” said Minister of the Armed Forces Catherine Vautrin after the vote. However, this trajectory will need to be confirmed every year during the budget debate.
The text is now expected to go to the Senate on June 2nd. Another priority: the droneization of the forces, with an additional 2 billion euros over the period 2026-2030 (+39%), totaling more than 8 billion. An effort deemed necessary as France lags behind in a field that has become crucial in operation theaters, notably in Ukraine. According to a report from the Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defense (IHEDN), drones are responsible for 50 to 80% of the conflict’s attrition. “Progress has been made in terms of research and prototypes. We now need to move towards industrialization,” stated Jean-Michel Jacques, president of the National Assembly’s defense committee, as the Army plans to order 15,000 drones.
In addition to the investment aspect, the text tightens the supervision of the freedom of expression of intelligence agents and former agents, and expands the use of algorithmic tools for data exploitation, for defense and combating trafficking purposes. It also establishes an exceptional regime that can be activated in case of a ‘serious and current threat’ to remove certain administrative barriers to accelerate the construction of military infrastructures.
“It is a tool that allows for the urgent installation of a new radar near a strategic site, even in a Natura 2000 zone,” said a deputy from Morbihan. Passed in the first reading by 440 votes to 122, the text is now expected to move to the Senate on June 2nd, despite opposition from La France insoumise and the ecologists, who criticize the vague triggering criteria of this controversial article. If definitively approved, France will allocate 2.5% of its GDP to defense by 2030.
:max_bytes(300000)/frontpop/2026/05/lien-armee-nation.jpeg "The Army")
