PARIS --- The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, and his Ukrainian counterpart Roustem Oumerov launched on Thursday, January 18 the “Artillery for Ukraine” coalition. It aims to strengthen military support for Kyiv, both in the short and the long term. The minister also announced that France would deliver six Caesars in the coming weeks and was capable of producing 72 additional ones in 2024 for Ukraine.
What is the artillery coalition?
Sébastien Lecornu launched the “Artillery for Ukraine” coalition in order to support Ukraine for as long as necessary. The fifty states of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, also called "Ramstein format", organized themselves into coalitions for more effective support in the short, medium and long term. Five capability coalitions have thus emerged: ground-air defense, armor, air forces, maritime security and, since Jan 18, artillery.
Alongside the United States, France, with its recognized industrial and operational expertise in this area, co-chairs the artillery coalition.
The objective of this coalition is to provide the Ukrainian armed forces with capabilities in the short term in this key segment for the defense of Ukrainian territory. In the long term, it also aims to build the future Ukrainian artillery through ambitious and innovative industrial partnerships.
Sustainable support for Ukraine
Sébastien Lecornu also took the opportunity to announce the delivery of six new Caesar cannons by France to Ukraine in the coming weeks, thus demonstrating once again France's enduring support. Above all, the acceleration of production rates at the Nexter company will make it possible to produce 72 additional Caesars for Ukraine in 2024 (i.e. 78 in total with the first six to be delivered soon).
Exchanges within the artillery coalition should make it possible to finance this support with the mobilization of all willing countries. In this context, France will use 50 million euros from its Support Fund for Ukraine to provide 12 of these 72 cannons. “There are therefore 60 left to finance. This is the appeal that I am making to all allies as part of our “Ramstein format” cooperation,” said Sébastien Lecornu.
Concerning the 155mm shells used by the Caesars, Sébastien Lecornu indicated that France would be able to provide 3,000 per month to the Ukrainian army from the end of January, compared to 2,000 per month currently and only 1,000 per month at the start of the war. “Either because we produce faster, or because we are able to recycle powders into munitions,” he underlined, welcoming the acceleration in production rates made possible by the transition to the "war economy".
On the other hand, on Tuesday, the President of the Republic announced the delivery in 2024 of around forty long-range SCALP missiles to Kiev, missiles which are in addition to the transfers made in 2023. He also confirmed the delivery of several hundreds of AASM powered bombs, which offer the capability for precision remote strikes on targets in the rear of the Russian combat system.
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