Chancellor Scholz wants to set up a joint anti-missile defense system across 13 European countries. France and Italy are not participating as they are bilaterally developing their own airspace defenses. To do this, they have long-range anti-aircraft missiles produced.
France and Italy plan to produce 700 additional Aster anti-aircraft missiles. This production order shows the will of both countries to “further modernize their air defenses from the ground and from ships,” said the French Ministry of Defense in Paris. A sum for the order was not mentioned. There was also no talk of a possible delivery to Ukraine.
The anti-aircraft missiles can be fired from SAMP/T vehicles, among others. A delivery of this air defense system developed by France and Italy to the Ukraine is currently under discussion, especially since France has not yet decided to deliver battle tanks. “The wishes that are brought to us relate primarily to artillery, air defence, ammunition and armored vehicles,” said French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre to France Info.
The French-Italian consortium Eurosam had already been informed about the production order for the 700 anti-aircraft missiles at the end of December. “This is one of the largest orders for these anti-aircraft missiles, which are the only system in Europe that have these capabilities,” the ministry said.
The order includes several types of anti-aircraft missiles with a range of up to 100 kilometers. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu met his counterpart Guido Crosetto in Rome at the end of last week.
The French-Italian air defense system, also known as Mamba, is one of the reasons why France has not yet participated in the planning of a European missile defense system initiated by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Paris and Rome have been working on developing their system since the 1980s. Great Britain was added in the early 2000s.
