France to provide “hundreds” of armored vehicles and missiles to Ukraine

France is preparing a new military aid package for the Ukrainian forces, which will include hundreds of armored vehicles and Aster anti-aircraft missiles.

French defense minister Sebastian Lecornu said that the armored vehicles in question are those in service but will be replaced with newer ones.

"To hold such a large front line, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our armored frontline vehicles: it is absolutely essential for troop mobility.

This old equipment, which is still serviceable, will be of direct benefit to Ukraine in significant quantities. We are talking about hundreds in 2024 and early 2025." 

France also wants to help strengthen Ukraine's air defense, so it is preparing a new batch of Aster 30 anti-aircraft missiles for the SAMP/T air defense system. These systems are an analog of the Patriot system.

The minister also added that France is developing remote-controlled ammunition, which is likely to be delivered to Ukraine this summer.

On January 1, France launched the Artillery Coalition to strengthen the Ukrainian army, within which the state hopes to receive additional Caesar self-propelled artillery systems and ammunition and introduce artificial intelligence into their control.

On March 26, the French defense minister said that his country would soon deliver 78 Caesar self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine.

Paris and Berlin have also agreed to allow the French-German company KNDS, which manufactures tanks, to establish a production unit in Ukraine.

France has supplied military equipment to Ukraine worth €2.615 billion, in addition to €1.2 billion donated to the European Peace Fund (EFF), for a total of over €3.8 billion in support from February 24, 2022, to December 2023.