14:27, 4 December 2023

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENPRESS. French senators have called on the authorities to explore the possibility of sending CAESAR self-propelled howitzers to Armenia in addition to the other recently shipped weapons, according to a defense budget bill of the French Senate.

The document mentions that Armenia will receive a total of 50 Arquus Bastion armored personnel carriers. 24 of these vehicles are already being shipped, while the rest are currently in production.

Armenia recently bought Thales-made GM 200 radars and Mistral 3 air defense systems from France.

 “Armenia recently signed an order for three GM200 radars from Thales and there is talk of a delivery of MISTRAL 3 surface-to-air missiles. The rapporteurs are able to indicate that 24 Bastion-type armored vehicles, produced by the French group Arquus, are being delivered to Armenia and should be joined by 26 other vehicles of the same type currently in production. The French authorities have initiated the delivery of “defensive” weapons to Armenia. This distinction between defensive and offensive weapons is in reality not very operational, as the war in Ukraine demonstrated. Let's not repeat the same mistakes by late delivering equipment that would have been necessary from the start. This is why we must respond quickly to all the requests from the Armenian authorities, particularly regarding their need for artillery. The rapporteurs recommend, in this regard, that the delivery of CAESAR artillery systems be studied as soon as possible taking into account the effectiveness of this equipment and the new production capacities of Nexter in 2024,” Senators Hugues Saury and Helene Conway-Mouret said in a recommendation for the 2024 budget.