PARIS, May 15 (Xinhua) -- France's new defense policy will see the capacity of deployment of French soldiers in external operation theaters decreased significantly, French Defense Minister Herve Morin has said.

    "Who can believe that in the next 15 or 20 years, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact and the enlargement of the European Union, we might be called upon to deploy 50,000 men in a theater," Morin said Wednesday while closing the 15th "Peace and Defense" parliamentary meetings.

    Under the "operational policy" fixed by the current 2003-2008 military program, the armed forces must be able to engage, inter alia, a land force of 50,000 men, a naval task force, the aircraft carrier and its escort, and an air force of 100 combat aircraft supported by refueling tankers, according to military sources.

    Without specifying the new figures, the defense minister said that President Nicolas Sarkozy had already declared a "part" of his position over the issue.

    "To be still capable of projecting 30,000 or 40,000 men in a Mediterranean theater, in the broader sense, does not mean that France is a second category military power," said Morin, rejecting the idea that the French armed forces were slowly "shrinking."

    "Since 1956, and (the crisis) Suez Canal, we have never deployed more than 30,000 men," said Morin, also pointing out that France had deployed "a little over 10,000 men in the Operation Daguet during the Gulf War (1990-1991)."

    In addition, France, according to the defense minister, was increasingly acting abroad on the basis of "coalitions or alliances backed by United Nations resolutions."

    "It is clear that the White Paper must address issues regarding the operational levels and draw conclusions on the size of our forces," said the defense minister, adding that France currently has some 11,000 soldiers deployed in operation theatres such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and Chad.

    A new White Paper, which is expected to fix the country's defense and security policy for the next 15 years, is to be published in June, said a senior military officer, adding that it will be followed by a new law on military programming in the fall.

    The publication of the new policy couple with the "overhaul of public policy, which severely affects the operations of the defense ministry," is the source of growing concerns regarding staff reductions among units that are removed or transferred.

    In early April, the defense minister had himself confirmed that up to 6,000 positions are to be abolished annually during the next six to seven years in the ministry, whose staff is estimated to be426,000 military and civilian officers.