The four “big” military purchases made by the Michel government in October 2018 generated less economic fallout than those announced – somewhat triumphantly – by the Minister of the Economy at the time, Kris Peeters, the newspaper reported on Saturday ‘ The Echo’.
“Foreseeable spin-offs to the industry under the Strategic Vision developed by then Defense Minister Steven Vandeput so far amount to $1.286 billion for the four main armament (F-35 fighter planes, wheeled armored vehicles, mine countermeasures vessels and drones, editor’s note). These represent 6.726 billion of the total invested, the rest being made up of more modest contracts or contracts that were signed later.indicates the economic daily on the basis of figures obtained from the Ministry of Defense, the cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, and several specialists.
In the long term (10 or 20 years), the returns might however amount to 4.5 billion returns, or 65% of the total initial investment, according to these estimates.
However, the situation is different depending on the programme.
For two of them – the purchase of 34 US F-35 stealth fighters and six mine countermeasures vessels – the government invoked “Essential Security Interests” (IES). ) to obtain a “societal return”, the treaty of the European Union banishing the system of economic compensations formerly in force.
For the six ships (the rMCM program, in jargon, which also provides for the purchase of six similar ships by the Netherlands), the acquisition budget amounts to 1.1 billion euros, with a “return societal” for Belgian industry calculated, at the current stage, at 436 million euros, but with a potential “to be finalized” of 1.677 billion – more than the amount of the contract signed with the French Naval Group.
For the F-35 fighters to be produced by the American group Lockheed Martin, the bill for the acquisition amounts to 3.8 billion euros. The current return amounts to 700 million euros – mainly for the manufacture in Belgium of at least 400 horizontal tailplanes (“Horizontal Tail Planes”, HTPs), with a term potential of 1.845 billion because orders for F -25 are increasing.
The “Motorized Capability” (CaMo) program, the purchase of 382 Griffon armored vehicles and 60 Jaguars as part of a “strategic partnership” with France, weighs 1.6 billion euros. To date, the returns amount to 150 million euros, with a potential of 910 million (without the maintenance of wheeled armored vehicles).
For the four Male drones (“Medium Altitude Long Endurance”) of the MQ-9B SkyGuardian type ordered in 2018, the amount of the contract with the American government amounts to 226 million euros, with a return of 120 million, for around ten companies, including Sabca.
‘L’Echo’ recalls that for the CaMo and Male programs, concluded without a call for tenders, it was the manufacturers who discussed societal returns among themselves.
The daily also points out that the Minister of the Economy at the time, Kris Peeters (CD&V), had announced, in return for the order of the F-35s, an economic return of 3.69 billion “i.e. almost 100% of the purchase”.
According to the newspaper, this figure is now “clearly no longer relevant”. According to the firm of Mr. Dermagne (PS), the total of qualified measures for the F-35 will amount to 1.845 billion. That is half of the estimates put forward four years ago. Fifteen measures have been implemented for an amount estimated at around 700 million, the most important of which (at least 400 million) is the manufacture, by the BeLightning consortium, a joint venture bringing together Asco, Sabca, Sonaca and the Federal Society of holdings and investment (SFPI, the financial arm of the federal state), at least 400 tailplanes of the aircraft.