We need a European-oriented industry
(B2 in Avord) By coming to close the summer university of Defense which was held on the air base 102 of Avord (near Bourges) this Friday (September 13), Florence Parly did not want to forget the Europe
Internet, Smartphone, Drones, so many missed opportunities
The French Minister for the Armed Forces first launched a call for innovation and launched an appeal to industrialists, many in the room (and on the podium). " To maintain operational capacity, we need an industry focused on Europe hammered the Minister of the Armed Forces. We must have " the courage to look reality in the face: Europe missed the first turn of the Internet and even the second, that of the smartphone revolution. We don't have a French or European champion capable of competing with the GAFA. In the world of defense too, we have sometimes poorly anticipated technological breakthroughs. Drones have appeared in the various theaters of operation much faster than we had anticipated ».
NB: Interestingly, Ursula von der Leyen, the future President of the European Commission drew the same conclusion last Tuesday, pointing to the American successes of the Internet and GPS, to defend public investment in defence.
Cyber a vital area of European-style innovation
It's wake-up time, she thinks. " It is now a question of seizing all the opportunities and seizing them together, with our European partners. » 'Between Europeans' does not mean, according to the minister, waiting and depending on innovation from across the Atlantic. " There are certain areas, such as cyber, where we cannot agree to depend on non-European players. [...] We must have our own way of innovating, in France and in Europe. It is only by developing a national and European defense industry that we will [...] have our own capacity for innovation. »
The awakening to the sovereignty necessary at the operational and economic level
She concludes on this point: Europe is also gradually waking up to this notion of sovereignty », taking as witness the creation of the European Defense Fund « indicative of this movement ". " Our operational superiority depends closely on our technological sovereignty and, by ripple effect, on our economic sovereignty. »
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
NB: The Minister also announced the launch of the 'Fabrique Défense', an event intended on the one hand to strengthen the link between the armed forces and the Nation and on the other hand the emergence of a common European strategic culture, which will be held at Paris on Friday January 17 and Saturday January 18, 2020. With, from December 2018, events labeled Fabrique Défense in the regions and in half a dozen European states.
