France favours air force in 2023 defence budget
The French Air and Space Force and French Navy will receive the AASM Hammer in 2023; an example is pictured on display in July at Istres Airbase. (Photo: Jean-Marc Tanguy)
Galvanised by the Russia-Ukraine war, French military spending plans for 2023 focus on fixed-wing aviation.
France intends to raise annual defence spending in 2023 by €3 billion ($2.91 billion) to €43.9 billion.
This increase aligns with the 2019-2025 Military Programming Law (LPM) but before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia on 24 February, many parliamentarians believed it would be difficult to implement.
At €8.5 billion, major equipment procurement programmes account for a big slice of planned 2023 spending but they still lag behind salaries (€12.9 billion).
The French nuclear deterrent accounts for €5.6 billion.
The big winner among the services in 2023 will be the French Air and Space Force, which will receive 13
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