France Goes Full Throttle: $4.7B in New Military Contracts Push Budget to Record High

Defense ministry announces accelerated procurement as Paris targets record $36 billion military budget for 2025

France announced $4.7 billion in new defense contracts this week, marking a sharp increase in military spending as the country pushes toward a record $36 billion defense budget for 2025.

The French defense ministry said the new orders total €4 billion and represent part of efforts focused on “strengthening defense capabilities and defense innovation.” The ministry’s DGA defense procurement agency said total awards through the first half of this year reached €12 billion ($14.1 billion), nearly €2 billion higher than the same period last year.

The spending surge is “equivalent to the entire 2019 military planning year” in value terms, according to the DGA.

Dassault Aviation received €318 million ($374 million) in allocations that will “launch the risk mitigation study for the future F5 standard for the Rafale, the continuation of Rafale aircraft production, and NGWS [New Generation Weapon System] work,” the procurement agency said.

The fighter jet manufacturer also secured funding for “the launch of work on a spaceplane demonstrator,” which was announced at the Paris air show on June 20. Dassault said “this demonstrator represents the first step in a roadmap for the development of a family of spaceplanes called Vortex.”

The company said key activities will include developing the “configuration of a spaceplane, control of hypersonic flight, advanced thermal protection technologies and flight control.”

French defense contractor Thales received €725 million ($853 million) in total awards, with part of that funding designated for “development of data links for Rafale,” the DGA said. The Rafale’s F5 operating standard will enter service early next decade, with other enhancements likely to include a T-Rex performance update for its Safran M88 engines and potentially the use of range-extending conformal fuel tanks.

Safran secured €128 million ($151 million) in contracts that will include accelerating production of its AASM air-to-surface weapon system. European missile manufacturer MBDA received €69 million ($81 million) for activities including “continuation of the Exocet anti-ship missile” program.

Airbus was awarded €89 million ($105 million) in total funding, with some of that money covering production of H225M Caracal helicopters on order for the French air force.

The DGA also disclosed awarding Sabena Technics a contract to provide a “new-generation testbed aircraft,” though the agency did not release additional details about the program.

French defense officials indicated the procurement pace must quicken to meet annual targets. “The pace of orders must accelerate by the end of the year in order to complete the 2025 fiscal year in accordance with the terms of the 2024-2030 Military Planning Act,” the procurement body said.

Total military spending over the six-year planning period is expected to reach €268 billion ($315 billion), with €31 billion ($36 billion) slated for 2025 alone.