France plans €63.4 billion for defence in 2027, up €6.5 billion; Vautrin at Euronaval announces naval drone timetable

France forecasts defence spending of €63.4 billion for 2027, an increase of €6.5 billion compared with 2026. The sum was announced by Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin in her speech opening the 30th Euronaval exhibition in Paris on Tuesday, November 3. “The draft budget I am presenting to parliament provides for defence spending to reach €63.4 billion in the 2027 financial year. That is €6.5 billion more than in 2026. This is historic,” she said.

The draft was submitted to the National Assembly and the Senate in October and has not yet been approved. The vote is scheduled for November. Vautrin noted that “from a logic of restoration we have moved to a logic of rearmament”, while the ministry describes the goal in its statement: for the forces to withstand high-intensity conditions for a long time.

Where the money will go

The effort covers, among other things, renewing the nuclear-powered attack submarines, the frigates and the support ships, as well as preparing the future aircraft carrier and the third-generation nuclear ballistic-missile submarines (SNLE 3G). The minister also announced new orders for Aster and Exocet missiles under the military programming law. Vautrin summed up France’s ambition of independent decision-making and action with the phrase: “Let them fear us, so that we stay free.”

Naval drones: first phase in 2027

A key part of the speech was the strengthening of naval drones. The ministry launched in June 2026 the new naval drone programme, divided into three categories: tactical drones for escort and protection, long-endurance drones for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and special-action drones, which include remote-controlled naval munitions. The French Navy and the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) presented the timetable on October 29. The first phase begins in mid-2027 and covers long-endurance drones to be embarked on ships, as well as industrial production of the Smoker, a remote-controlled naval munition that came out of internal DGA innovation. The second phase, in 2028, will include DANAÉ, an autonomous surface drone that can carry weapons. Vautrin also mentioned additional orders placed by the DGA last summer: twelve surface and underwater systems for the SLAM-F mine-warfare programme.

The minister called on French industry, with more than 770 companies and 59,000 direct jobs, to speed up innovation and production. She made clear that Paris wants to give priority to systems of European origin. “Our first weapon is our ability to produce as Europeans. That is how we will become stronger,” she said, citing Greece as a successful example. She also referred to cooperation with Sweden on missiles, aviation and naval capabilities, aiming at mutual strategic autonomy, and with Belgium and the Netherlands on the new mine-warfare ships. On Franco-Greek naval cooperation, see our report on Nearchos and the 75 Greek companies in the FDI programmes.