By Tamora Vidaillet
PARIS (Reuters) - France aims to create a smaller, moremobile and better equipped army, able to respond to threatsranging from terrorism to cyber attacks, under plans to beformally presented by President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday.
A government policy document outlines plans to trim the fatfrom the military, spend more on equipment and pay greaterattention to intelligence and home security, while maintainingFrance's independent nuclear deterrent.
"We have to adapt our military to a world that's moving,"Defence Minister Herve Morin wrote in an article for Tuesday'sLe Monde newspaper. "We need to favour the infantry, airmobility with transport helicopters and troop protection."
The government will also seek to deepen ties with NATO,heralding a potential return to its command structures, as away of boosting military cooperation within the European Union.
France has 12,000 troops on foreign missions fromAfghanistan to the Balkans but they have been hampered by poorequipment and a chronic shortage of helicopters and airtransport.
More than half of military personnel perform administrativeand support functions, with just 40 percent in operational andcombat roles.
"The end game is to have a more efficient, more modernisedarmy," said Etienne de Durand, director of security studies atIFRI, one of France's leading foreign affairs think tanks.
"The theory is we're going to cut personnel so as to savemoney and buy at least part of the equipment that formergovernments said we needed," he said.
SPENDING STEADY
France's status as a nuclear power with a strong militaryis a cornerstone of policy and Sarkozy has pledged to keepdefence spending steady at around 2 percent of gross domesticproduct.
But strained public finances have forced it to cut costsand seek more value for money.
Reductions made mostly to support staff should free up theresources needed to spend more on cutting-edge equipment suchas satellites and to improve the state of ageing helicoptersand transport ships in the field.
The policy document foresees a cut in the number of troopswho can be sent abroad to 30,000 from their current level ofaround 50,000, with a 5,000-strong rapid intervention reserve.
In a significant departure, up to 10,000 soldiers will beassigned to internal security tasks ranging from terrorism topandemics or cyber attacks.
A special council on defence and national security, headedby the president, will be set up to coordinate all nationalsecurity issues.
In terms of military strategy in general, the documentstresses France's already flagged desire to participate morefully in NATO structures as a way to win support for deeper EUdefence cooperation.
But it insists that France, which withdrew its forces fromNATO command in 1966, must keep control of its nuclear arsenaland will not relinquish command of its own forces.
In geographical terms, sensitive regions such as theeastern and western coasts of Africa, where France alreadymaintains a significant military presence will remainpriorities, while Asia is likely to become more important.
(Editing by James Mackenzie and Catherine Evans)
