Josselin Droff and Julien Malizard published the article « Conflicts and the reconfiguration of the arms industry: the two markets hypothesis »in issue 18 of Defence & Industry, Journal of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS)
For more than two years and the war launched by Russia on Ukrainian territory, we have been witnessing a transformation of defence equipment requirements and therefore the defence industry.
In this respect, the President of the French Republic has expressed the wish to make the transition to « war economy »In his speech at the Eurosatory show in 2022, he was referring to a rethink of production times and rates. However, in its historical dimension, this term explicitly refers to the period during the First and Second World Wars, when the bulk of production was geared towards the defence of the nation, and therefore towards arms production. During these periods, the defence effort exceeded 30 % of GDP, so that only Ukraine meets the definition of a war economy.
In France, the military programming law 2024-2030 The budgetary ambitions are limited and do not allow for quantitative changes to the armed forces format. However, industrial adjustments have been made, particularly in the areas of munitions and missiles.
In any event, given the many constraints on the development of defence budgets, the preparing for a war of attrition must necessarily be seen in a coalition context.
