Bombs, missiles, and ammunition: France announces plans to produce weapons

The French Ministry of Defense reported on the pace of arms production and plans to provide military assistance to Ukraine.

Sébastien Lecornu, the country’s Minister of Defense, discussed this during the press conference.

In 2024, the country’s defense industry will produce 600 AASM guided bombs. Next year, France plans to double this number, reaching 1,200 bombs.

According to Lecornu, the government is to transfer 100 bombs as military aid to Ukraine by the end of March. The Air Force is actively using them on the front line, having integrated them with MiG-29 fighter jets.

He also reported on discussions on the integration of AASM bombs with F-16 fighter jets, the first of which are to be in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine this year.

In 2024, MBDA’s French division is planning to produce 40 SCALP cruise missiles, the production of which has been halted for a long time. It is not yet clear whether this means resuming production or repairing existing missiles in stock.

These are the missiles used by the Ukrainian Air Force to strike the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The Minister of Defense also discussed the production of ammunition, announcing that the arms industry intends to produce about 100,000 shells this year.

Of the one hundred thousand 155-mm artillery rounds, 80,000 should be provided to Ukraine as military aid, and the rest stay in France.

Lecornu also reminded that as part of the “artillery coalition” program, France, Denmark, and Ukraine financed the production of 78 Caesar self-propelled howitzers at Nexter’s facilities. All of them are to be manufactured by the end of the year.

It is assumed that each of the countries participating in the coalition will contribute to funding this project. Thus, France will use EUR 50 million from its Support Fund of Ukraine to order 12 out of 78 howitzers. Ukraine funded the production of 6 more ACS.

This year, the French government also plans to allocate an additional military aid package to Ukraine, which will include armored vehicles, including additional VAB armored personnel carriers and AMX-10 reconnaissance vehicles.