Firstly there is the weapon of diplomacy

In a historic speech on 23 March 1983, Ronald Reagan launched his Strategic Defence Initiative, which was almost immediately nicknamed the "Star Wars program." The idea was to cover the United States with a vast impenetrable shield to protect against Soviet missile attacks. A quarter of a century on, although the Soviet Union has disappeared, the threat has not. North Korea and Iran have stepped into the role of the bad guys, only serving to strengthen Washington's determination.

What is Europe's contribution to all this "next to nothing" would pretty much sum it up. Europe, with France in the vanguard, is just beginning to move. A visit to the General delegation for armaments stand at Le Bourget demonstrates this clearly.

Here visitors will be able to see videos of a prototype called spiral. This is the acronym given to the "Infrared preparatory system for alert" (Preparatory Infrared Warning System), a prototype space-based detector of rocket launches. Made up of two micro satellites, the trial system was launched last year from Kourou. This might seem a bit lightweight compared to the dozen or so heavy GBI missiles that the United States has ready to be launched, not to mention the mobile THAAD enemy (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) and the Patriot missiles for atmospheric defence. A quick glance at the US Missile Defense Agency website shows the vast resources committed in this field.

Very long - range radar system

This appears to lead to the inevitable conclusion that once again Europe is left to shelter under Uncle Sam's umbrella. Such a judgement may perhaps be a little hasty. First it is easy to focus too much on the threat from ballistic missiles, that is to say long - range missiles (more than 3,000 km) carrying warheads capable of mass destruction. Clearly, no one is denying the risk of proliferation, as was made clear in the French white paper on defence and national security. And it is true that in this threat area only the United States has the resources to develop enemy that are as powerful as their targets. This is not to say, however, that France is completely without the means to defend itself.

Firstly, there is the weapon of diplomacy. If this does not work, then France could send its Air Force to carry out preventative bombing raids on missile launch sites or deploy salvoes of the Scalp cruise missile that will soon be available on its frigates and nuclear attack. The United Kingdom takes a similar approach. Most importantly, by rapidly detecting the origin of an attack, thanks to spiral, nuclear deterrence becomes all the more credible because a potential enemy knows it can be identified, and thus wiped off the map.

Secondly, for Europe the main challenge lies in the second area of threat: short - range and medium - range missiles, covering less than 3,000 km and carrying conventional warheads. These are weapons that even relatively poor countries can afford. In this area, France, the United Kingdom and Italy still have the resources to match their ambitions. How By upgrading the Aster surface-to-air missile and developing a very long - range radar system, explains Antoine Bouvier, Chairman and CEO of missile maker MBDA, a subsidiary of EADS, BAE Systems and Finmeccanica. The radar project is covered by the French military procurement program for 2009-2014. For the Aster upgrade, however, several trillion euros will have to be found by 2020, and this is by no. means a certainty.

The outcome will affect not only Europe's defence, but also MBDA's chances in the export market. By offering a complete solution covering interception in both upper and lower layers of the atmosphere, as they did in the United Arab Emirates, American companies can marginalize the European missile maker. "We must act quickly, otherwise the missile defence market, which accounts for a quarter of our sales, will become closed to us" warns Antoine Bouvier.