One of them calls for the South Caucasus nation’s purchase of three sophisticated radar systems from the French defense group Thales. Lecornu and his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikian also signed a “letter of intent” on the future delivery of French-manufactured surface-to-air missiles. No financial details of these agreements or delivery dates were made public.
“Armenia must be able to defend itself and protect its population,” Lecornu said in a series of tweets posted on the X social media platform in French and Armenian.
“Happy to progress, with you dear Suren, on the three pillars of our defense relationship,” he wrote, listing the planned arms supplies, training of Armenian military personnel and technical assistance to the ongoing “transformation” of Armenia’s armed forces.
Lecornu reaffirmed that a senior French officer will be sent to Armenia to advise its military on those reforms and that teams of French instructors will teach Armenian troops new combat techniques. The training courses will focus on “mountain combat and precision shooting,” he said.
France - Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov attends a news conference during a contract signing event for GM200, a medium-range radar produced for air defense, as part of a visit at the Thales radar factory in Limours, February 1, 2023.
The French minister also pointed to the “upcoming audit” and “reinforcement” of Armenia’s air defenses that suffered serious losses during the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh and last year’s border clashes with Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army’s heavy use of Turkish and Israeli-made combat drones and the Armenian side’s failure to neutralize them determined, in large measure, the outcome of the six-week war.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Papikian on Monday, Lecornu said Armenian officers will be trained to operate the GM200 radars and short-range Mistral missiles that are also due to be sold to Yerevan.
GM200 can simultaneously detect and track multiple warplanes, drones and even rockets within a 250-kilometer radius, allowing air-defense units to hit such targets. France supplied two such systems to Ukraine earlier this year.
France, which is home to an influential Armenian community, is the first Western country to have pledged to provide major weaponry to Armenia. Papikian again thanked Paris for its military support when he met with senior French lawmakers on Tuesday.