“War economy”: Emmanuel Macron calls for a “sustainable” effort from arms manufacturers

The upheaval caused by the war in Ukraine and global rearmament require a “sustainable” effort by the defense industry to produce more and more quickly, Emmanuel Macron warned this Thursday as he laid the first stone of a shell powder factory. in Bergerac (Dordogne). “We have left for the long term to settle into a geopolitical, geostrategic change where defense industries will have a growing role,” said the Head of State in the presence of defense industrialists, whom he urges to accelerate to move to a “war economy” in order to continue to actively support Ukraine against Russia.

According to him, the “effort” to be made is “urgent, we must go quickly, strongly, massively, but it is also sustainable”. “The world we are talking about will not stop if the war ends tomorrow, because there is a massive rearmament (...) of Russia and because you see everywhere in Europe the military spending, the orders increase,” he insisted.

The first stone laid by the Head of State on the Eurenco site, the European leader in powders and explosives, should result in the opening in early 2025 of a new powder factory essential for propelling shells, capable of to produce 1200 tonnes of powder per year. The Bergerac site, which had been producing it since 1915, was dismantled in 2007 due to lack of sufficient orders. Demand had started to increase before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine but the conflict was a “growth accelerator” for the group, according to its CEO Thierry Francou.

Eurenco's orders now extend until 2030 and represented 1.2 billion euros over the last six months. For Emmanuel Macron, “the relocation of powders, which had in fact been abandoned, shows that there is no industrial inevitability”. The production of 250-kilo bomb bodies has also been relocated to France, according to the Élysée.

“We have entered into production for two export contracts covering a few hundred bombs,” Aresia CEO Bruno Berthet explained to AFP. If the creation of this new chain was self-financing, the company benefited from the support of the Ministry of the Armed Forces to accelerate the qualification of these bomb corps, which it was not billed for, according to him.

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Accompanied in Bergerac by Ministers of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and Ministers of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, the Head of State was then due to meet leaders of the French arms industry on the subject of rearmament. Among them, the bosses of MBDA Éric Béranger, of Thales Patrice Caine, of KNDS France (ex-Nexter) Nicolas Chamussy, and of Bruno Durand, president of Aubert et Duval, manufacturer of special steels used both for sailors, as for planes or Caesar cannons.

During his greetings to the Armed Forces in January in Cherbourg (Manche), the Head of State castigated a “form of satisfied numbness” of the defense industry before the invasion of Ukraine. “We cannot let Russia think that it can win (...). A Russian victory is the end of European security,” he insisted.

Since Emmanuel Macron's announcement of a transition to a war economy in June 2022, the industry has sought to ramp up to meet orders. France has placed orders worth 20 billion euros of military equipment in 2023, a third more than in previous years, and export orders are piling up. Paris is notably awaiting the delivery of 1,500 MMP anti-tank missiles, 55,000 shells and for anti-aircraft missiles, 300 Mistrals, 500 Mica-NGs and 220 Asters.

To respond, manufacturers are striving to accelerate. KNDS France saw its production of Caesar cannons triple (and reduced from 30 to 15 months) while MBDA must increase its rate of Aster missiles by 50% by 2026, an insufficient rate according to the Minister of the Armed Forces. In February, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also called for “large-scale” arms production in Europe to supply Ukraine by breaking ground on a Rheinmetall shell factory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Sunday that his country would lose the war if it did not receive more aid, as Russia increases its pressure in the east of the country. $60 billion in American aid promised by President Joe Biden has remained blocked in Congress for months.