PARIS — French defense firms have boosted production of self-propelled guns, artillery shells, fighter jets and anti-air missiles, the country’s armed forces minister said Monday.
The announcement by Sébastien Lecornu comes as France goals to spice up the delivery of weaponry to Ukraine, which is fighting off a Russian invasion, and greater than a yr after French President Emmanuel Macron called for the country to embrace a “war economy.”
France plans to extend its monthly deliveries of 155mm shells, from 1,000 per 30 days in January 2023 to three,000 per 30 days in January 2024, Lecornu said.
“Concrete results of a shift to a war economy,” Lecornu wrote on X, formerly referred to as Twitter, following a visit to a neighborhood Nexter Systems facility in Roanne, which manufactures the truck-mounted 155mm howitzer Caesar. “To replenish our capacities transferred to Ukraine and to proceed to produce all of our allies.”
Nexter has raised production of the Caesar to 6 per 30 days from two at first of 2022, Lecornu added, and the pace will increase to eight systems per 30 days from the beginning of next yr.
The corporate is providing operational support for all Caesar systems in service in Ukraine, using virtual reality to guide Ukrainian engineers through maintenance operations, Nexter CEO Nicolas Chamussy told Defense News at an industry forum outside Paris this month. He said a complete of 49 Caesar systems were sent to Ukraine, including 19 from Denmark.
Lecornu had said last month that Nexter will supply a further six Caesar weapons to Ukraine, along with 18 already supplied from French Army stocks and 12 that Ukraine acquired directly from Nexter’s parent firm KNDS.
Meanwhile, MBDA has doubled its production of the Mistral short-range surface-to-air missile to 40 per 30 days; Dassault Aviation has tripled production of the Rafale fighter aircraft to 3 per 30 days; and Thales has doubled its radar production capability, based on Lecornu.
Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine has meant France must shift to a long-term war economy, Macron said on the Eurosatory defense show in June 2022, while the country needs land-based weapon systems and sufficient funding for national security.
France passed a military budget in August for the 2024-2030 period that enhances defense spending next yr by 7.5%, to €47.2 billion (U.S. $49.6 billion).
Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 17 to correct Lecornu’s statement regarding radar production rate at Thales.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He began his profession at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.