Paris now wants to change its doctrine: fewer arms deliveries and more contracts between Ukraine and France. The stated objective is to make kyiv a military partner like any other.
Anchor France’s military aid over time: this is the message from Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces, on the occasion of his second trip to Ukraine since the start of the war. The minister, who granted franceinfo an exclusive interview, arrived in kyiv on Thursday September 28 with a delegation of around twenty French industrialists, who are participating this Friday in the first defense industries forum. And their message is clear: no more constantly dipping into army stocks.
>> Armament: to what extent has the war in Ukraine revived the French defense industry?
It is now up to the Ukrainians to invest and buy weapons from France, like all military partners. An objective which necessarily delights French industrialists, who for their part promise to move to “the war economy” : reduction of deadlines, acceleration of delivery rates to support the Ukrainian army…
“Cock-a-doodle Doo !”says Alexandre Pedemont, head of the Vistory group. “This is a world first, we are going to install production capacities here in Ukraine, on 2,000 m² of surface area”, he congratulates himself. These will involve workshops for repairing equipment and manufacturing up to a thousand drones per month. “We are going to recruit workers here. And in France, that’s 15 more jobs and even up to 30 more in the long term.”
“It’s part of the growth of our business”
Job creation in Ukraine and France because the order books are full, proof that, even if the counter-offensive is slipping, the war offers French industrialists prolific markets, never seen before. “It’s part of the growth of our business”recognizes Bastien Mancini, the president of the Delair company, also a drone specialist. “We are a small company, we have a little over ten million turnover. The major global drone players are at over 300, 400 million.”
“When you have systems that resist in these conditions, it’s a great showcase to sell on other markets.”
Bastien Mancini, from Delair, a drone specialistat franceinfo
The other side of the coin for these companies: exposing themselves to strikes or becoming targets, and being considered by Russia as parties to the war. A risk that these manufacturers are now ready to assume.