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The Ministry of Armed Forces (French: Ministère des Armées, pronounced [ministɛʁ dez‿aʁme], lit. 'Ministry of the Armies') is the ministry of the Government of France in charge of managing the French Armed Forces inside and outside French soil. Its head is the Minister of the Armed Forces. From 1947 until 2017, the Ministry was designated the Ministry of Defence (French: Ministère de la Défense). It is France's ministry of defense.
| French: Ministère des Armées | |
 Official logotype | |
 | |
| Ministry overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 31 October 1947[1] |
| Preceding agencies | |
| Jurisdiction | Government of France |
| Headquarters | Hôtel de Brienne Paris 7e, French Republic - Hexagone Balard Paris 15e, French Republic 48°51′35″N 2°19′10″E 48°50′8″N 2°16′34″E |
| Annual budget | €54.494 billion[2] |
| Ministers responsible | |
| Ministry executive | |
| Website | www |
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Minister of the Armed Forces
The head of the department is the Minister of the Armed Forces. The current officeholder has been Sébastien Lecornu since 2022. He reports directly to the President of the Republic, the Commander-in-Chief of the French Armed Forces.
His mission is to organize and manage the country's Defense Policy in liaison with other departments. He is also in charge of mobilizing troops and managing the military infrastructure. He is responsible of the French Armed forces security to the Parliament.[3]
Chief of the Defence Staff
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The Chief of the Defence Staff (CEMA) reports directly to the Minister. He is in charge of conducting operations, troops training, troops inspection, programming the force's future, and gathering and analyzing Intelligence. He is also in charge of maintaining relationships with other countries.
The position of Chief of the Defence Staff was held by French Army General Pierre de Villiers until 20 July 2017, when he handed his resignation without an official reason. However, sources suggest that this was done as a protest against the announced defense budget cuts in contradiction to previous assurances for increased defense spending.[4] French Army General François Lecointre took over as Chief of Staff of the Armies on the following day.[5]
SGA
The Secretary-General for Administration is in charge of the general administration of the Department. He assists the Minister for:
- Elaborating Budget
- Legal advice
- Human resources policy
- House resources
- Social Management
The position is held by Jean-Paul Bodin.[6]
DGA
The Direction Générale de l'Armement is the research and development service of the Department. It is in charge of furnishing equipment to all branches of the Armed Forces and creating the future equipment of the armies. The service manages more than 80 projects and commanded more than 7.5 billion euros to the national Industry in 2011.
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The headquarters of the Ministry of the Armies is at the Hotel de Brienne, in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris but all services have been moved to a new headquarters.
On 5 November 2015, French president François Hollande inaugurated The new French Defence Ministry headquarters at Ballard Site, nicknamed Hexagone Balard or "Balardgon" about its American counterpart The Pentagon.[7]
Hexagone Balard concentrates all components of the French Armed Forces, and houses the Chief of Staff of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Navy, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force, the Direction générale de l'armement, the General Secretary for the Administration and the Chief of the Defence Staff, while the office of the Minister of the Armed Forces stays in the Hotel de Brienne. It is a 250 000 square meters (2690978 Sq Ft) building on a 39.5 acre (16.5 hectares) ground.
Hexagone Balard is the most secured building in continental Europe.[citation needed] Its nickname "Hexagon" was given to the project because of the shape of the ministry building. The center of the quadrilateral that forms the whole of the West plot consists of two buildings of hexagonal shape.[8]
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