France set aside about €10 billion a year on defense equipment projects during the period covered by the current Military Programming Law (LPM) i.e., 2014-2019. The LPM bill being debated in Parliament provides for an increase in these investments for the period 2019-2023, with an annual average of €5 billion for nuclear dissuasion and €10 billion for conventional weapons. European cooperation makes it possible to have innovative military equipment while achieving economies of scale and supporting the competitiveness of the European defense industry, but its success is not guaranteed. The Cour de comptes has reviewed the main cooperative defense equipment projects between European States, and presents the conditions required for future cooperation to be successful.
