France's ambassador to Germany, Anne-Marie Descotes, warned on Monday that German arms export policies and licensing rules threatened future Franco-German defense projects.

The remarks come as the two European nations are seeking to form closer defense cooperation and deepen ties between their parliaments.

In an essay published by the German military's Federal Academy for Security Policy, she said Germany had a tendency to see arms exports as a domestic political issue, but that its policies still "have serious consequences for our bilateral cooperation in the defense sector and the strengthening of European sovereignty."

An 'untenable' situation

Germany's unpredictable arms export policies and long waiting times for export licenses are a particular problem, Descotes said. This has an impact on major Franco-German projects to develop new tanks, combat jets and drones.

"This situation is untenable," she wrote.

"Realistic export possibilities on the basis of clear and predictable rules are an essential prerequisite for the survival of our European defense industry."

Read more: Opinion: We must strengthen European defense together

More exports needed

Descotes pointed out that there are no standard procedures for the purchase of military equipment in Europe, something that France supports but that Germany has so far rejected. This has pushed EU member states to purchase arms outside of the continent and is fragmenting the European market.

She went further to say that exports were needed to add sales volume and lower arms prices. If not, European countries would need to boost military spending to as much as 4 percent of economic output.

Read more: Changing Europe revives interest in an EU military

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Arms to Saudi Arabia

The German government recently extended a temporary freeze on arms exports to Saudi Arabia until the end of the month. It was imposed after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Saudi arms ban angered European partners, who fear it has jeopardized billions of euros of military orders, including a GBP 10 billion ($13.18 billion; €11.65 billion) deal to sell 48 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Riyadh that would be led by Britain's BAE Systems. German firms build about a third of the plane's components.

Read more: German government clashes over defense spending

A Franco-German accord possible

Descotes said it was unacceptable that Germany could veto and endanger exports of weapons systems by other countries simply because they contained minor components that were built in Germany.

The ambassador suggested that France and Germany continue to work in the coming weeks on completing a bilateral accord to only allow each country to ban each other's arms exports in exceptional cases that affected that country's direct interests or national security.

The agreement, she said, would also prevent Germany or France from blocking each other's exports on the basis that the components were manufactured domestically.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare AI: 'Third revolution in warfare' Over 100 AI experts have written to the UN asking them to ban lethal autonomous weapons — those that use AI to act independently without any human input. No "killer robots" currently exist, but advances in artificial intelligence have made them a real possibility. The experts said these weapons could be "the third revolution in warfare," after gunpowder and nuclear arms.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Gunpowder The "first revolution in warfare" was invented by the Chinese, who started using the black substance between the 10th and 12th centuries to propel projectiles in simple guns. It gradually spread to the Middle East and Europe in the following two centuries. Once perfected, firearms using gunpowder proved to be far more lethal than the traditional bow and arrow.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Artillery The invention of gunpowder also introduced artillery pieces to the battlefield. Armies started using basic cannons in the 16th century to fire heavy metal balls at opposing infantrymen and breach defensive walls around cities and fortresses. Far more destructive field guns were invented in the 19th century and went on to wreak havoc in the battlefields of World War I.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Machine guns Guns that fire multiple rounds in rapid succession were invented in the late 19th century and immediately transformed the battlefield. Machine guns, as they came to be known, allowed soldiers to mow down the enemy from a protected position. The weapon's grisly effectiveness became all too clear in WWI as both sides used machine guns to wipe out soldiers charging across no man's land.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Warplanes Military thinkers did not ignore the invention of the first airplane in 1903. Six years later, the US military bought the first unarmed military aircraft, the 1909 Wright Military Flyer. Inventors experimented with more advanced fighter and bomber aircraft in the following years. Both became standard features in many of the national air forces established by the end of WWI.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Mechanization Armies had traditionally used soldiers and horses to fight and transport military equipment. But around WWI, they started using more machines such as tanks and armored vehicles. Faster and more destructive armies were the result. Nazi Germany put this new form of "mechanized warfare" to destructive effect in WWII using an attack strategy known as "Blitzkrieg" ("lightning war").

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Missiles Although artillery was effective, it had a relatively limited range. The missile's invention in WWII suddenly allowed an army to strike a target hundreds of kilometers away. The first missile — the German V-2 — was relatively primitive, but it laid the foundation for the development of guided cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Jet engine Jet aircraft first saw action alongside traditional propeller airplanes at the end of WWII. Jet engines dramatically increased an aircraft's speed, allowing it to reach a target quicker and making it far harder for an adversary to shoot it down. After WWII, military reconnaissance planes were developed that could fly higher than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) and faster than the speed of sound.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Nuclear weapons The "second revolution in warfare" announced its horrific arrival on August 6, 1945 when the US dropped the first nuclear bomb — "Little Boy" — on the city of Hiroshima in Japan, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people instantly. In the Cold War that followed, the US and Soviet Union developed thousands of even more destructive warheads and raised the specter of a devastating nuclear war.

Technologies that revolutionized warfare Digitization Recent decades have witnessed the ever more prevalent use of computers to conduct war. The devices made military communication quicker and easier and radically improved the precision and efficiency of many weapons. Armed forces have recently focused on developing cyber warfare capabilities to defend national infrastructure and attack foreign adversaries in cyberspace. Author: Alexander Pearson



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