French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that his country would supply Ukraine with hundreds of armored vehicles — "old, but still good" — and Aster missiles. This will be in the new military aid package.
Sebastian Lecornu told about this in an interview with the newspaper La Tribune.
"To maintain such a large front line, the Ukrainian army needs, for example, our VAB (Vehicule de Iʼavant blinde) armored personnel carriers. This is extremely important for the mobility of troops," the minister explained.
These French armored personnel carriers are designed to quickly transport troops to the battlefield under the cover of armor. VAB was developed back in the 70s of the last century.
"This old equipment, which is still working, will be able to directly benefit Ukraine if it is available in significant quantities. We can talk about hundreds of units in deliveries for 2024 and the beginning of 2025," Lecornyu added.
Meanwhile, the VAB armored personnel carriers, which are more than 40 years old, are being replaced by the new generation Griffon armored vehicles in the French army.
In addition, France responds to Ukraineʼs request to strengthen air defense capabilities and unlocks a new batch of Aster 30 missiles for the SAMP/T ground-based anti-aircraft missile complex, which is intended for air defense of mechanized units and air defense of important stationary objects. This air defense system is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles.
- This is not the first time that the French minister has promised to increase military aid to Ukraine. In March of this year, Lecorne also voiced Franceʼs desire to provide Kiev with more than 78 Caesar self-propelled guns, and also announced the transfer of high-precision French-made AASM Hammer air bombs. At the beginning of March , the French government published the list of weapons that Ukraine received from France. It stated that the Defense Forces of Ukraine received a total of 30 Caesar self-propelled guns from Paris. In addition, the transfer of 19 Caesar self-propelled guns from the Danish government to Ukraine was previously reported.