Military output for naval forces – including ships and submarines – has grown by nearly 50% in value over the past two years, French company Naval Group has announced, as Western governments respond to threats from Russia and instability in the Middle East.
Euronaval 2026: USD 122 billion in 2024–2025
At the opening of the Euronaval naval defence exhibition in Paris, Naval Group CEO Pierre-Eric Pommellet cited an Euronaval study indicating that the value of naval military output rose to USD 122 billion in 2024–2025, up from USD 82 billion two years earlier.
Pommellet noted that, in 2024–2025, China ranked first in naval military construction, ahead of the United States.
A race to modernise fleets
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and amid the conflict in the Middle East, Western countries have embarked on a race to modernise their fleets.
“For 30 years, many of us took the sea for granted – open, safe, free – a space where trade flowed unhindered. That era is over.”
“Ukraine, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf, the Indo-Pacific, ‘shadow fleets’, undersea cable cutting, drones, attacks, missiles, mines, jamming – all of this is happening simultaneously and is all too obvious to our citizens,” he said, describing the threats facing naval forces.
Closer European cooperation
Pommellet, who also chairs the French naval industry association GICAN, argued for closer cooperation between European and allied navies. “No one needs a fleet on their own anymore. Naval programmes are becoming increasingly European and international,” he stressed.
“When several navies operate the same type of vessel – for example, the same frigate – using the same systems, the same mission equipment and the same logistics, everyone benefits,” he added.