Hearings were held in the defense committee of the French Senate regarding the country’s 2024 military budget and French military exports. In particular, they talked about the order of 3 GM200 radars from Thales and the supply of MISTRAL “surface-to-air” missiles for Armenia. Reporters also noted the delivery of 24 units of the Bastion armored vehicle by the French company Arquus and the order of another 26 currently in production to be shipped.
The reporters noted that the French authorities had initiated the supply of “defensive” weapons to Armenia and pointed out that, as the war in Ukraine showed, this distinction between defensive and offensive weapons is not operational.
“Let’s avoid repeating the same mistakes by causing delays in delivering equipment that will be needed in the first place. That is why we must respond quickly to all the requests of the Armenian authorities, particularly regarding the need for artillery. The rapporteurs recommend that the supply of CAESAR artillery systems be explored as soon as possible, considering the efficiency of this equipment and the new production capacity of Nexter in 2024 (increasing the production volume from 2 to 6 per month, possibly also 8).”
