For decades, France has marketed its combat aircraft as symbols of strategic independence in a global arms market dominated by the United States. At a time when Washington is increasingly accused of using arms exports as a tool of political pressure—conditioning access, upgrades, and even operational use on alignment with U.S. foreign policy—Paris has promoted its aerospace sector as an alternative: advanced, reliable, and crucially, free from American export controls.
That independence, however, is now under intense scrutiny.
The recent acquisition of the French aerospace firm LMB Aerospace by the U.S.-based Loar Group has ignited a fierce political and strategic debate in France, raising questions about whether the country’s flagship fighter jet, the Dassault Rafale, can still credibly be sold as “ITAR-free”—a claim that has long underpinned its export success.
France’s insistence on strategic autonomy is not rhetorical flourish; it is a foundational principle of its defense policy. Since the Cold War, Paris has invested heavily in maintaining an end-to-end sovereign military-industrial base, from nuclear submarines and ballistic missiles to fighter aircraft and avionics. The goal has been simple but costly: to ensure that no foreign power, including allies, can veto French military decisions or exports.
In the aerospace sector, this philosophy has translated into a near-obsessive effort to avoid U.S.-controlled components that would subject French systems to the United States International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Under ITAR, any platform containing controlled U.S. technology requires explicit American approval for export, re-export, upgrades, and sometimes even deployment.
President Emmanuel Macron has repeatedly turned this regulatory reality into a diplomatic weapon of his own. While promoting the Rafale at defense summits and bilateral meetings, Macron has emphasized that buying French jets means “no political conditions from Washington” and no risk of U.S. export restrictions blocking spare parts, weapons integration, or wartime use.
In an era when the United States has shown a growing willingness to use defense exports as leverage, this message has resonated.
Turkey’s expulsion from the F-35 program after it purchased Russia’s S-400 air defense system remains a cautionary tale frequently cited by French officials. More recently, President Donald Trump has openly threatened to reconsider Canada’s status within NORAD if Ottawa were to choose European fighter jets—such as the Rafale or Sweden’s Gripen—over the U.S.-made F-35.
Against this backdrop, Rafale’s ITAR-free status has been one of its strongest unique selling propositions, especially in politically sensitive markets such as India, Indonesia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe.
That carefully cultivated image is now facing an uncomfortable reality check.
In December 2025, the Loar Group, an American aerospace and defense supplier headquartered in New York State, announced the completion of its €367 million (approximately US$433 million) acquisition of LMB Fans & Motors, a small but highly strategic French company based in Corrèze. The French government formally approved the sale last week.
Founded more than 60 years ago, LMB Aerospace is a global leader in the design and manufacture of customized, high-performance fans and electric motors. These components may sound mundane, but in modern military platforms they are anything but. High-reliability fans and brushless motors are essential for cooling avionics, radar systems, electronic warfare suites, and propulsion-related subsystems.
LMB’s client list reads like a map of France’s strategic crown jewels. The company supplies fans for the Rafale fighter jet, French nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, Airbus Tiger attack helicopters, the Leclerc main battle tank, and a range of other French Army vehicles.
At the same time, LMB also supplies components for U.S. platforms, including the F-15, F-16, and F-18 fighter jets, as well as Apache and Black Hawk helicopters—making it a rare example of a firm deeply embedded in both French and American defense ecosystems.
The acquiring company, Loar Group, is itself a significant subcontractor for Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Kratos Aerospace, producing small mechanical and electromechanical components for both civil and military aviation.
The approval of the sale triggered an unusually broad political backlash in France. In a rare moment of unity, parties from across the ideological spectrum—far right, left, and center-left—voiced strong opposition in the National Assembly and Senate.
Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally (RN), denounced the deal as “the sale of a strategic asset at the heart of the French defense industry,” calling it nothing less than “a sale of France.”
Marine Le Pen went further, framing the transaction as “a true betrayal of national sovereignty.” She warned that France could soon find itself unable to sell Rafale fighter jets “without Washington’s approval, simply because of the presence of an American component in its aircraft.”
From the left, Socialist Senator Hélène Conway-Mouret expressed alarm at what she described as a glaring contradiction between rhetoric and reality. “I am shocked that we are losing all credibility,” she said. “When we talk about defending French sovereignty and the European economy, and then in reality give in to a competitor… And it’s not just any company that’s being sold. It directly affects our sovereignty.”
The French Communist Party issued one of the harshest statements, accusing the Macron government of having “agreed to cede a jewel of our military industry.” Calling the sale “treason,” the party warned that once LMB became fully U.S.-controlled, it would fall under American extraterritorial laws, including the Patriot Act and ITAR. “This effectively puts the Rafale in Washington’s hands,” the party argued.
Government assurances and a “golden share”
The Macron government has pushed back forcefully against these accusations, insisting that France’s strategic interests remain protected.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure defended the decision by pointing to what he described as “extremely strict” conditions imposed on the transaction. Central among them is the state’s retention of a so-called “golden share”—a preferred share that gives the French government veto power over any strategic decision affecting LMB’s activities.
“The State will hold a golden share in LMB’s capital, meaning that any strategic decision can be blocked by the State,” Lescure explained. He also stressed that the agreement mandates the maintenance of production in Corrèze and requires the company to respect contracts with French military customers “without time limit.”
From the government’s perspective, these safeguards ensure continuity of supply, protect jobs, and prevent the hollowing out of a sensitive industrial capability—all while allowing LMB to access greater investment and global markets under Loar’s ownership.
The ITAR question that won’t go away
Yet critics argue that these assurances miss the core issue.
The central concern is not whether LMB will continue producing fans in Corrèze, but whether its components will, over time, become subject to U.S. export controls simply by virtue of American ownership and integration into a U.S.-controlled corporate structure.
Under U.S. law, particularly ITAR and related regulations, control does not always hinge on where something is manufactured, but on who owns the company, who controls its intellectual property, and how that technology is classified. Even if production remains in France, LMB’s electric fans and motors could eventually be deemed ITAR-controlled items.
If that happens, the implications would be profound. Any Rafale aircraft incorporating those components could, in theory, require U.S. approval for export or re-export. The same risk could extend to French naval platforms, including nuclear-powered submarines—an especially sensitive issue for a country that prides itself on the absolute sovereignty of its nuclear deterrent.
For foreign customers, the mere possibility of such constraints could be enough to undermine confidence.
The Rafale’s export success over the past decade has been one of France’s major industrial and diplomatic achievements. Sales to India, Egypt, Qatar, Greece, Croatia, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia have not only sustained Dassault Aviation but also reinforced France’s status as a leading arms exporter.
In many of these campaigns, the absence of U.S. political strings has been decisive. Buyers wary of American leverage—especially those seeking strategic autonomy of their own—have seen Rafale as insurance against sudden embargoes, spare-parts cutoffs, or political pressure during crises.
This independence has become even more valuable as the Trump administration has repeatedly signaled its willingness to use defense exports as leverage to “arm-twist” allies and partners into aligning with U.S. trade and security priorities.
French opposition parties argue that by allowing a key Rafale supplier to fall under U.S. ownership, Paris has weakened its own negotiating hand and diluted a core advantage that took decades to build.
At a deeper level, the LMB affair exposes a broader tension within European defense policy: the clash between globalization and sovereignty.
On one hand, defense companies increasingly rely on global supply chains, foreign investment, and transatlantic partnerships to remain competitive. On the other, strategic autonomy—especially in sensitive sectors—demands insulation from precisely those dependencies.
France has long tried to square this circle better than most. Yet critics say the Loar-LMB deal suggests that even Paris is struggling to maintain that balance under economic and financial pressure.
For now, the government insists that the safeguards it has put in place are sufficient and that fears of ITAR contamination are exaggerated. But skeptics remain unconvinced, arguing that once U.S. ownership is established, legal and regulatory realities—not political promises—will ultimately prevail.
What seems clear is that the controversy is far from over. Opposition parties are calling for additional conditions, tighter oversight, and clearer legal guarantees that LMB’s products will remain outside U.S. export control regimes. Some warn that if such assurances cannot be secured, the damage may already be done.
As one senior critic put it, US$433 million is a modest sum compared with the strategic value of the independence France has built over seven decades, at enormous cost. Whether the Macron government’s gamble will pay off—or whether it will come to be seen as a historic misstep—may only become evident when the next major Rafale export campaign runs into Washington’s regulatory shadow.
For a country that has long defined itself by its refusal to let others decide its defense policy, that is a risk France can ill afford.
