France Announces Joint Drone Production in Ukraine
French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced that a French car manufacturer, in cooperation with a small and medium-sized defence company, will launch the production of drones in Ukraine.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to Le Monde.
French automotive and defence companies will manufacture drones on Ukrainian territory. Lecornu considers this a ‘mutually beneficial’ partnership with Kyiv.
‘We are launching a completely new partnership, within which a large French car company will join forces with a French small or medium-sized defence enterprise to create production lines in Ukraine for the manufacture of drones,’ said the head of the country's defence department.
He did not specify the type of drones, but noted that they would be intended for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Lecornu also noted that these drones would be available to his country's armed forces so that they ‘have ongoing tactical and operational training that corresponds to the realities’ of the war in Ukraine.
According to him, Ukraine will provide feedback on the use of these drones in combat conditions.
‘There is no need to ask French citizens to work on the production line in Ukraine,’ Lecornu stressed.
He added that Ukrainians ‘are better than us at developing drones and, most importantly, at forming a doctrine for their use.’
And at the 28th Ramstein meeting, held at NATO headquarters, Ukraine and partner countries agreed to create a defence production mechanism.
As The Gaze reported earlier, Czech defence giant Czechoslovak Group has almost completed the construction of a production line for 155 mm artillery shells in Ukraine.