jeudi 24 juillet 2008

French Military prepare for future bother

France's army chiefs warn of the danger of ". . .a world-wide strategic upset.” and so get tooled up. They warn, "“Individual European countries can no longer master every technology and capability at a national level. France must retain its [...] capability necessary for the maintenance of the strategic and political autonomy of the nation: nuclear deterrence, ballistic missiles, SSNs [nuclear submarines], and cyber-security.” On the other hand, “France believes that the European framework must be privileged [for] combat aircraft, drones, cruise missiles, satellites, electronic components, etc., although procurement policy must include acquisitions on the world market.”
It calls for “an operational ground force of 88,000 men, enabling a force-projection capability of 30,000 troops with 6 months’ notice, 5,000 soldiers on permanent operational alert and the capability to mobilize 10,000 soldiers on the national territory to support civilian authorities in case of a major crisis.”

Cyber-security? Major crisis? This crisis is mutli-faceted as well as global.