France in 2022 won arms export orders worth an “exceptional” €26.97 billion ($28.79 billion), more than double the €11.72 billion booked in the previous year, the government’s annual report to parliament said.
“Our orders for armaments in 2022 reached an historic level close to €27 billion,” Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu said in the introduction to the report.
That record amount reflected an appreciation by client nations for French-built weapons which went beyond the Rafale fighter jet, extending to missiles, frigates, submarines, artillery, helicopters, radar, and spy satellites, he said in the report.
There was also a note of caution further into the report, pointing up the figures for a single year should not be taken as representative, as the trend in arms exports was set over time.
The long-term basis for orders was set on a steady flow of contracts worth less than €200 million, based on service support, training, or upgrades on large contracts signed in the previous decade, with the value lying in the long term, the report said.
Exports also depended on orders for less glamorous equipment in a particularly competitive market, namely “low cost” equipment sold by emerging markets, the report said.