French Army Incapable of Participating in Large Military Operations - Defense Minister

PARIS (Sputnik) - The modern French had not been formed with the requirement to take part in large-scale military operations and has long been underfunded, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Wednesday.

"Even if our army today could not participate in a 'high-intensity' conflict... But imagine a French soldier in Mali surrounded by an armed group of terrorists: that is high intensity! It is more correct to say that it is impossible to take part in large-scale operations," Lecornu said in an interview with French broadcaster LCI.

"This happened for a number of reasons: after the dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty Organization, the governments of previous presidents did not form our army to participate in large-scale military operations, it was irrelevant. The second reason is a significant decrease in its funding, sometimes for significant, sometimes for insignificant reasons."

On Tuesday, Gen. Pierre de Villiers, a former chief of the French Defense Staff, said that the French army is incapable of high-intensity warfare today. He added that the army needs a much larger budget to modernize weapons and equipment, stockpile ammunition, and improve logistics capabilities than the French government is currently providing.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said while visiting the country's naval base in the French city of Toulon that the new military strategy will be determined within six months after consultations.