2023-07-03 05:59:16
Having an air and missile defense bubble quickly, by pooling the acquisition of existing technologies: this is the principle of the “sky shield”, in English “European Sky Shield Initiative” (ESSI). The project now brings together 17 European countries, including the United Kingdom, the Baltic countries, most of the Central European states, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, but also Sweden, a candidate for entry into NATO. Three notable exceptions remain: Poland, Italy… and France. Why does Paris refuse to commit to it?
To fill the gaps in European defense revealed by the war in Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz launched this initiative in October 2022, within the framework of the Atlantic Alliance. “No European state can ensure an effective defense of its airspace against new dangers on its own”, said insisted the Chancellor on Saturday July 1, when Austria announced that it would join the project.
Concretely, Berlin is counting on a German system for the short range (the IRIS-T), an American one for the medium range (the Patriot PAC-3, already widely used in Europe) and an Israeli one for the long range missiles (the ‘Arrow 3). However, this list does not include any French equipment, not even the SAMP/T Mamba, the medium-range ground-to-air defense system used by France and Italy, which consider it as effective as the Patriot.
Favoring already operational American equipment, the signatories have deliberately chosen not to not resort to the mechanism financed by the European Union to the tune of 500 million Euros, theEDIRPA (European Defense Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act). Available by 2023, it should facilitate the joint acquisition of defense equipment developed by Europe.
European sovereignty
“The Germans have proposed an industrial agreement, we are proposing a strategic initiative: to have the ability to make a European defense, sovereign, with European equipment”, indicated in mid-June a French diplomatic source to the Mondewhile a counter-project is in the works.
Paris believes that Berlin would benefit from this project to market its IRIS-T, a system manufactured by Diehl BGT Defense and which was exported shortly before the war in Ukraine. This “shield of the sky” would also be a means of consolidating the market for the American Patriot system while forming “a club of European Patriot buyers under German leadership”, wrote Renaissance MP Natalia Pouzyreff and her colleague LR Jean-Louis Thiériot in February. in a rapport d’information on French ground-to-air defence.
“The non-existent place of European solutions (in service or in development), however numerous and effective in all segments of ground-to-air defense, against the promotion of American and Israeli products is deplorable”, they note again.
Because another point of contention lies in the inclusion of the Arrow 3 shield, developed and produced jointly by Israel and the United States. This anti-ballistic system is capable of intercepting missiles even in exo-atmospheric space, at hypersonic speed. A feat that was until now the prerogative of France.
The arrival on the NATO market of an Israeli solution, on such a large scale, is a novelty that Paris would do well without, still squeaks to Le Monde an expert on condition of anonymity. Moreover, in its current form, the Arrow 3, designed to respond to a specific threat, is not in conformity with the doctrine defined by NATO.
arms race
But if this initiative opts for American equipment, it is also because of the delays in the current Franco-German projects for industrial cooperation in Defense, recalls the Jean Jaures Foundation. The French manufacturer Dassault Aviation and the German Airbus Defense and Space (ADS) are struggling to develop the European combat aircraft of the future, the SCAF (“Future Air Combat System”). Germany also withdrew from the MAWS (Maritime Airborne Warfare System) patrol aircraft program, finally opting for American equipment, the Boeing P-8 A Poseidon. And the list does not end there.
Finally, the Elysée is also worried about a possible escalation towards an arms race and a disturbance of the balance of nuclear deterrence. Paris recalls that in 2010, Moscow complained when NATO announced that it was equipping itself with a ballistic missile defense system, in full tension with Iran.
The Bundestag voted on June 14 the first tranche of the budget to acquire Arrow 3, ie 560 million euros out of a total of 4 billion euros. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, was still trying to procrastinate last month by recalling that this system will not be able to match the effectiveness of the Israeli “iron dome”, which protects a territory 200 times smaller than that of France or Germany.
French industry responded at the Paris Air Show on June 19. The French president has announcement the joint purchase by five countries (France, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary and Cyprus) of short-range Mistral surface-to-air missiles, manufactured by the European designer MBDA. He also warned of the deployment of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T Mamba system in Ukraine, and of the arrival of Belgium as an observer in the future Scaf aircraft program.
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