The authorities of France and Australia have agreed on the joint production of 155 mm shells for the armed forces of Ukraine, France 24 reports.
The decision to jointly produce ammunition for Ukrainian artillery was made at a meeting between French and Australian defense ministers Sebastien Lecornu and Richard Marles.
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“Together with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, we decided to offer our joint assistance to Ukraine. We are talking about our joint production of 155 mm caliber shells that will be delivered to Ukraine. These shells will be produced as part of a partnership between the French and Australian industries,” Lecornu said.
The head of the French Ministry of Defense also specified that the first deliveries of shells to Ukraine could be carried out as early as the first quarter of this year, noting that the manufacturer of weapons and military equipment, Nexter, is participating in the partnership on the French side.
In turn, the Australian Minister of Defense said that “we are talking about a project worth many millions of Australian dollars.” “This partnership is designed to show that France and Australia are working together to support Ukraine. This is the first such example of cooperation between our defense enterprises,” Marles said.
On January 20, Germany hosted a meeting of Ukraine’s allies in the Ramstein format, where it was announced what was included in the next package of military assistance to Ukraine. In monetary terms, it became the second largest since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia – two and a half billion dollars.
The new batch of weapons from the United States includes 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, 59 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, ammunition for HIMARS missile systems and NASAMS air defense systems, 8 Avenger air defense systems and 350 HMMWV vehicles. But until it receives Leopard tanks from Germany, and Abrams tanks and cruise bombs for HIMARS systems from the USA.
“Armament from the allies will double the combat power of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” A military expert assessed the new aid package for Ukraine:
