Julien Malizard and Josselin Droff spoke on Tuesday, November 21, 2022 at the Defense and Aerospace Advanced Training Course (CopDa), organized by Safran University in Massy, France. Defence & Aerospace Chair, led by General (2S) Jean-Marc Laurent.
They presented the work of the Chair to an audience of defence industry representatives.
Julien Malizard presented the challenges associated with measuring defence budgets with a global perspective. First of all, when it comes to measuring budgets, it is essential to question the sources. The methodological issues surrounding budget perimeters, «military inflation» and comparisons over time were detailed. Lastly, the, an overview and comparison of the budgets of the world's major powers was presented to the audience. The paradox of the current period is that defence spending at an all-time high in history, including during the Cold War, while the weight of defence as a percentage of GDP has never been so low.
Josselin Droff presented a paper from the Chair on State acquisition policies, A look at fighter aircraft in Europe since the end of the Cold War. A symbol of prestige and military power, combat aircraft are also a market subject to both financial constraints and political and diplomatic uncertainties. The issues surrounding the renewal of combat aircraft provided an opportunity to discuss the issues of strategic autonomy, the preservation of industrial skills within the DTIB, as well as the cooperation programmes in Europe.
At a time when important decisions are being taken on the Future Air Combat System (SCAF), the Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) and the future Military Planning Law in France, the exchanges between the Chair's researchers and the audience were particularly rich.
