The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced on Tuesday a new delivery of twelve Caesar cannons and the sending of one hundred and fifty French soldiers in Poland to train Ukrainian soldiers.
By Elise Vincent
Paris took advantage of the first official visit to France of the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksi Reznikov, to announce, Tuesday, January 31, the establishment of several devices aimed at providing Ukraine with new military equipment on the duration. “We want our aid to register in the long term,” said the Ministry of the Armed Forces.
During a press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced that kyiv should soon receive twelve new Caesar cannons. It is a relatively substantial figure compared to the weakness of French stocks and the eighteen Caesar already delivered by France since the start of the war. But, in order not to continue to take the stocks of the armies, which only had sixty-six units before February 2022, these new Caesar will go directly from the factory of the Nexter company in kyiv.
mounted on a truck, these twelve Caesar, which can draw up to approximately 40 kilometers by means of a 155 mm barrel, will be funded by the support fund for Ukraine, endowed with 200 million euros. They will be added to the nineteen Caesar promised by Denmark in kyiv in mid-January. No delivery deadline has been indicated. But following several orders from the State, in February and July, to recomplulate French stocks, things could go fairly quickly on the side of Nexter.
The industrialist would now be able to produce, according to our information, four cannons per month, against an announced period which went from eighteen to twenty-four months before the war. “I do not exclude a situation of tile with our own stocks,” said Mr. Lecornu. While the cost of a Caesar is today about 5 million euros for this type of quantity, the order for Ukraine could be around 60 million euros.
“need of regularity “
This direct production mechanism for Ukraine joins another announcement, made Monday as part of the visit to France of the Australian Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong: the production of 155 mm shells. These shells should precisely be used to accompany Caesar cannons to kyiv. They will also be made by Nexter, in part with Australian powder.
This production circuit already existed before the war but Paris and Canberra have decided to build it up and co -finance it to support Ukraine. “The Ukrainian army needs regularity and predictability,” insisted Mr. Lecornu on this occasion. “Several thousands of shells” should thus be manufactured for kyiv for an announced amount of several million euros, with first deliveries before the end of the first quarter.
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