France : les industries de défense au pied du mur

France: the Defense Industry on the Defensive
The end of the Cold War marked the beginning of an intense restructuring of security and defense policies in the West. Especially in a country like France which simultaneously is rejoining NATO little by little all the while pushing for the creation of the continental defense pillar based on the Franco-German alliance.
To the new doctrine which is being outlined, there should correspond a reform of the armed forces which is well advanced, but also a restructuring of the arms industry which will necessarily occur by alliances or even mergers at the European level. But on this scene there reigns the greatest disorder as the Europeans have not given up their national ambitions nor clearly chosen their allies and have as a result not defined a coherent industrial strategy.
European defense industries find themselves in a situation of weakness behind by at least one war by comparison with the industries of the United States which are already getting ready for the war of the future with a high dose of new technology.