France is challenging a German-led plan to build up Europe’s air defences, in another sign of brewing tensions over how the region should counter the threat posed by Russia.
The disagreement will set the backdrop to an air defence strategy conference in Paris on Monday, which partly aims to wrest back momentum from the Berlin-backed European Sky Shield initiative, whose launch blindsided French officials last year.
Convened by President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, French officials describe the event as a forum for debate among EU defence ministers, US and Nato military officials, and industry executives.
But Macron’s push also reflects more fundamental differences between Paris and Berlin over how to promptly strengthen military defences against Vladimir Putin’s Russia while at the same time fostering Europe’s industrial base.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz unveiled Sky Shield last October to create a European air and missile defence system by jointly procuring equipment, and 17 countries have since signed up, including the UK, the Baltic states, Sweden and Finland.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its heavy use of munitions and missiles to attack from the skies were a wake-up call that Europe could no longer neglect its air defences. “We have a lot of catching up to do in Europe”, Scholz said in an August speech setting out his vision for air defence.
But key countries such as France, Italy and Poland have remained on the sidelines, showing the challenges of overcoming national industrial interests even as military budgets are ramping up across Europe. Paris in particular was caught off guard by Sky Shield’s announcement and postponed a Franco-German summit in part to signal its pique.
While French and German officials have avoided public criticism of each other’s plans, differences are evident behind the scenes. Germany initially planned to send a senior official instead of defence minister Boris Pistorius, but changed course over the weekend.
Macron has implicitly criticised Sky Shield for relying too much on weapons systems manufactured outside Europe, while not adequately considering how to best deter Russia, including by potentially acquiring long-range missile strike capabilities.
Air defence “is first a strategic issue before being an industrial one, but obviously, it must be based on a balance of offensive actions and defensive actions”, Macron said in a recent speech.
“When I see certain countries which increase their defence spending to massively buy non-European systems, I simply tell them: ‘You are preparing the problems of tomorrow!’”
In Berlin, officials see the French criticism as unfounded and argue that the urgency of closing gaps in air defences means that procuring “off-the-shelf” systems is preferable to “lengthy and often cost-intensive” new developments. In the letter of intent sent to Nato last year seen by the Financial Times, the countries taking part in Sky Shield agreed to “pragmatic solutions” to “enable swift progress” on air defences.
Although countries in Sky Shield each make their own procurement choices, Germany has said it plans to buy Iris-T missiles from homegrown manufacturer Diehl group for medium-range protection, the Patriot from US-based Raytheon Technologies for long range, and the Arrow 3 from Israel for very long range. The German parliament last week signed off on the first purchases: a set of six Iris-T units for €900mn and the first tranche of funds in a $4.3bn deal for the Arrow 3 missiles.
In Paris, the exclusion of the Franco-Italian SAMP-T missile defence system made by MBDA and Thales, which serves a similar range as the US-made Patriot, has proven a sore point.
“France is upset that Sky Shield is largely based on US and Israeli technology when there is a European alternative, and that the project has in effect left out southern Europe,” said Shahin Vallée, a former adviser to Macron who works at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
A French official denied that Paris was motivated by such competitive concerns. The conference was not intended to undermine Sky Shield, the person said, but rather to hold a much-needed discussion over the broader strategy of how to protect European skies, including the roles of Nato and the EU as well as deterrence from nuclear weapons held by France and others.
A second French official pointed out the risk that spending billions on air defence systems could provoke a new arms race with Moscow.
About 20 officials at minister level were expected to attend the conference, along with representatives from Nato and the US.
No specific deals are expected at the conference. But Macron is expected to speak at the closing and Paris may hold similar events in the future.
One senior western official whose country is part of the Sky Shield initiative was unenthusiastic about the French manoeuvring with the conference. “It’s perplexing and difficult to understand why the French feel the need to do this,” the person said. “The whole point is to not have competing ideas.”
Within Nato, the Sky Shield initiative is seen as a positive step to achieving better interoperability and standardised defence platforms, the lack of which has been laid bare by the war in Ukraine. Countries’ weapons often do not work seamlessly together and militaries cannot always resupply their allies.
Pistorius said it was important to him that the Sky Shield initiative was not seen as a rival to Nato or the EU.
“Everything that is procured can be integrated into the existing structure,” he told the FT. “You can see from this that we are not in competition with the French conference in Le Bourget.”
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