A defence or security contract is a contract concluded by the State or one of its public establishments for the purpose of:
1° The supply of equipment, including spare parts, components or sub-assemblies thereof, intended for use as weapons, munitions or war material, whether specifically designed for military purposes or initially designed for civilian use and subsequently adapted for military purposes;
2° The supply of security equipment, including spare parts, components or sub-assemblies, which involve, require or contain media or information protected or classified in the interests of national security;
3° Work, supplies and services directly related to the equipment mentioned in 1° or 2°, including the supply of tools, testing facilities or specific support, for all or part of the equipment’s life cycle. For the purposes of this paragraph, the life cycle of the equipment is all the successive stages it may undergo, in particular research and development, industrial development, production, repair, modernisation, modification, maintenance, logistics, training, testing, withdrawal, dismantling and disposal;
4° Works and services with specifically military purposes or works and services intended for security purposes and which involve, require or contain protected or classified media or information in the interests of national security.
The principles set out in Article L. 3, when applied to defence or security contracts, are also intended to ensure the strengthening of the European defence technological and industrial base.