France offers armored vehicles and missiles in new aid package to Ukraine

• The move involves the use of France's VAB vehicles, essential for troop mobility.
• The older models of the VAB fleet are being phased out with new Griffon armored vehicles.
• France will also supply more Aster 30 anti-aircraft missiles for SAMP/T launchers.

In an interview published late Saturday, France’s defense minister stated that Paris would deliver "hundreds" of armored personnel carriers and anti-aircraft missiles as part of a new aid package to Ukraine in its war against Russian invaders.

Sebastien Lecornu told La Tribune newspaper that providing "such an extensive front line" requires, for example, the use of France's VAB vehicles, which are essential for troop mobility.

Currently, France is phasing out its VAB fleet — some of which are more than 40 years old — with new Griffon armored vehicles, but Lecornu stated that the older models were "still operational."

“We’re talking about hundreds of them for 2024 and early 2025,” he said.

Paris will also supply more Aster 30 anti-aircraft missiles for SAMP/T launchers, similar to the US-supplied Patriot air defense systems.

“We are also developing remotely operated munitions in a very short timeframe, to deliver them to Ukraine starting this summer,” Lecornu added.

The French government is urging defense companies to ramp up production to meet the needs of its army and to ensure continued support to Ukraine after more than two years of war with Russia. Kyiv has warned that its stocks of munitions are running low, particularly urging Washington to end a political standoff that has frozen a new $60 billion aid package.

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