As part of an industrial forum in Kyiv, France confirmed a new contract with the company KNDS for the acquisition of 12 new CAESAR self-propelled howitzers intended for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The announcement was made yesterday by the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, who stated that Ukraine will finance this purchase, along with a message emphasizing France’s commitment to continue supporting the Ukrainian military.
Prior to this announcement, Ukraine had already acquired six CAESAR self-propelled howitzers in October 2023, which were added to the 18 previously transferred by the French Army and the 12 directly purchased by Ukraine from KNDS (Nexter). Additionally, the future provision of these twelve new CAESARs to Ukraine is part of a plan to transfer a total of up to 72 self-propelled howitzers, funded by a contribution of 50 million euros from the Ukraine Support Fund.
At the end of January this year, France, together with Ukraine, launched a military assistance initiative called the “Artillery Coalition for Ukraine,” aimed at strengthening military support for the country in the short term, while facilitating the provision of equipment and ammunition. In the long term, the goal is to locally build future Ukrainian artillery through ambitious and innovative industrial partnerships.
New KNDS Subsidiary in Ukraine
Following an initiative presented in March this year by Defense Ministers Sébastien Lecornu and Boris Pistorius of Germany in Berlin, the Franco-German company KNDS has just opened a subsidiary in Kyiv called KNDS Ukraine LLC. This subsidiary aims to support cooperation between Ukrainian government institutions and the arms industry and KNDS.
According to the official statement, the goal of establishing KNDS Ukraine is, among other things, to equip the local industry with the necessary tools for maintenance, repair, and overhaul of systems and platforms provided by KNDS, which include Leopard 1 and 2 tanks, CAESAR artillery systems, 6×6 AMX10 RC armored vehicles, PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers, and the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery system. This aims to increase the availability of combat systems. At the same time, KNDS and the Ukrainian industry intend to jointly manufacture 155mm artillery ammunition in Ukraine and produce spare parts using cutting-edge manufacturing technologies.
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