France sells ground-to-air defense equipment to Armenia after Azerbaijan’s military exercises with Turkey

France strengthens Armenia’s armament. Paris announced on Monday October 23 the sale to Yerevan of equipment for its ground-to-air defense, at a time when Azerbaijan began military exercises with Turkey near the Armenian border. There “defense relationship” between France and Armenia “is based on the simple principle that you must be able to defend yourself and your population”, explained French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, before announcing the signing of a contract between Yerevan and the French group Thalès, as well as a letter of intent with the European missile manufacturer MBDA.

The contract concerns the acquisition of three Ground Master radars (GM200) from Thalès, he specified during a press conference with his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan, without revealing the amount. This medium-range radar, already supplied to Ukraine, “allows you to have remarkable detection capabilities”, recalled the minister. It can detect an enemy aircraft 250 km away, whether it is flying at low speed and low altitude like drones, or at high altitude like fighter planes. The French minister insisted on the fact that these were defensive weapons which did not have an “aggressive” aim.

Tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose again with the lightning military reconquest of Karabakh by Azerbaijan last month, after the region had been under the control of Armenian separatists for around thirty years. More than 100,000 Armenians from Karabakh fled to Armenia.

Yerevan now fears that its neighbor, richer, better armed and supported by Turkey, is seeking to push its advantage and trying to connect the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhchivan to its territory by force by encroaching on the Armenian South.