French President Emmanuel Macron said today that his country would "increase and accelerate orders for Rafale aircraft" for the air force, as part of new defense investments agreed in response to global geopolitical change.
Additional investment decisions will be announced in the coming weeks, Macron said during a visit to an air base in northeastern France.
Macron added that French forces will benefit from more orders for the Rafale, French fighter jets from Dassault Aviation.
The French Air Force had 108 Rafales last year, the Navy had 41, and the army is expected to receive 56 additional aircraft.
French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecorny recently announced the need to procure 30 more Rafales - 20 for the air force and ten for the navy.
The Lixay air base in the northeast, which Macron visited today, will also be "the first base by 2035 to host the next generation of Rafale and its hypersonic nuclear missile, a symbol of the renewal of the modernization of our nuclear deterrent," the French president said.
He mentioned a French investment of "almost 1,5 billion euros" for the adaptation of the site.
As France and Europe decided to strengthen their defenses due to the rapprochement between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the French president decided to visit the base that allows France to "play a central role in protecting the entire Atlantic," the Elysee Palace said.
"Our country and our continent need to continue to defend, equip, prepare if we want to avoid war. No one can say what will happen in the coming months and years. What I want is for us to be ready. What I want is for us to be protected," Macron said.
The French president is traveling to Berlin during the day where he will hold talks with outgoing and incoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Friedrich Merz.
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