War in Ukraine: hundreds of armored vehicles and missiles… France will deliver “old but operational” equipment to kyiv

In an interview with La Tribune this Sunday, March 31, Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that France will deliver "hundreds" of armored vehicles and missiles to Ukraine.

Old, but "still functional". France will deliver hundreds of old armored vehicles and Aster anti-aircraft and anti-ballistic missiles to Ukraine as part of a new aid package for Kyiv in its war against Russia, declared the French Minister of Defense, Sébastien Lecornu.

"To hold such a large front line, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our armored front vehicles ( VAB): this is absolutely key for troop mobility", explained the minister during an interview with La Tribune Dimanche.

Lucides face aux menaces, confiants en nos capacités : c’est l’état d’esprit qui nous anime.

Réarmement industriel, aide à l’Ukraine, Europe de la Défense, lutte contre le terrorisme….

Mon interview @LaTribune Dimanche 🗞️https://t.co/OLiezIaM3A

— Sébastien Lecornu (@SebLecornu) March 31, 2024

Stocks to "produce ammunition"

"This old equipment, still operational, will be able to directly benefit Ukraine in significant quantities. We can talk about hundreds of them for 2024 and early 2025", he added. Sébastien Lecornu also declared that he was going to "unlock a new batch of Aster 30" missiles for the SAMP/T device (system medium range ground-air/terrestrial) supplied to Ukraine.

The minister also indicated that he was asking the Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) to make proposals to accelerate the production of the Aster missile, manufactured by the European group MBDA.

Although it "does not identify a need for requisition", the DGA is going to in addition "make a first injunction to MBDA so that it constitutes sufficient stocks of components". &amp ;quot;To be clear, I require the creation of stocks to produce ammunition", specified Sébastien Lecornu.