Several critical weaknesses hitting the French armies have been detailed several times on Meta-Defense. As part of the preparation of the 2024-2030 Military Programming Law, it seems, according to information that has filtered into the public domain, that several of them are now taken into account, with solutions envisaged in the relatively short term. This is particularly the case for the capacity to destroy enemy anti-aircraft defenses and electronic warfare for Rafale, the Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force having announced, during his hearing by the defense committee of the National Assembly, that this capacity, initially planned within the framework of the SCAF, was to be accelerated within the framework of the next LPM. This is also the case for the SYLVER VERtical Launch System arming the frigates of the French Navy, Naval Group having announced that work has been undertaken to offer greater flexibility to the system so as to be able to carry different missiles if necessary. As for the Chief of Staff of the Army, he announced, in the same context as his AAE counterpart, that the objective was now to equip armored vehicles like the Griffon and the Jaguar, a hard-Kill active protection system, while in this area, Thales and Nexter announced last year the development of the PROMETHEUS system.
There is another area in which the French armies are very exposed, especially in the event of a high-intensity engagement, that of close anti-aircraft, anti-missile and anti-drone protection, designated by the acronym SHORAD (Short Range Air-Defense) for land systems, and by the acronym CIWS (Close-In Weapon System) for ships. In the absence of an air threat but also a serious threat of the artillery or cruise missile type during engagements over the past 25 years, this capability has long been ignored by the French armies, moreover exposed to painful budgetary arbitrations for nearly 3 decades. The War in Ukraine showed not only the decisive role of this type of system in protecting combat forces, but also the inadequacy of conventional anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems to counter new threats such as roaming drones, munitions both inexpensive and easy to implement, while having a significant potential for harm, especially against civilian infrastructure.
To date, the French armies have indeed very effective means to create an air interdiction/protection zone, using the Mamba and PAAMS systems based on the Aster 30 anti-aircraft missile, and a good capacity anti-cruise missile with the Aster 15, the Crotale and the Mistral-3. However, these systems are not designed to counter drone attacks, the missile itself costing between 3 and 10 times the price of its target, nor to counter massive so-called "saturation" attacks, i.e. too many to be effectively dealt with by this type of defence. There is obviously a lack of a system capable of ensuring the close and terminal defense of units or critical infrastructures, in order to engage and destroy the threats that have escaped the long and medium range defense, which is why, due to the noticeable tightening of tensions, this need is now a priority for the French Armies within the framework of the next LPM. And the Thales group seems perfectly ready to meet this need, both in terms of operational capacities and deadlines.
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