ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how France has adapted to – and shaped – these international evolutions over the past three decades. It analyses the evolution of the French defence budget and equipment spending, before moving on to presenting the institutions and processes of French defence procurement. The chapter examines France’s procurement practices, explaining the country’s preference for national systems and its accommodation of necessary cooperation with European partners. It analyses the growing importance of arms exports for the preservation of the French defence industry and the constraints that accompany this dependency. France made financial and organisational efforts during the Cold War to build a performant defence industry, which allows it to remain today a member of the restricted club of countries that are able to provide for themselves the full spectrum of military capabilities, such few other countries include the United States, Russia, and China.
