France to grant Ukraine licences to produce missiles. Rafale fighter jets will arrive in 2028–2029 – Macron
Ukraine will receive licences to produce French Aster 30 anti-ballistic missiles. Paris will also deliver Rafale fighter jets in 2028–2029.
French President Emmanuel Macron said this during a press conference, Censor.NET reports.
French assistance
"President Trump has already announced a decision to allow the production of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems. For our part, we have decided to authorise the licensed production of Aster missiles used by the SAMP/T systems that France is developing jointly with Italy. Several other countries have also made similar decisions on transferring licences," Macron said.
Ukraine will receive its first French Rafale fighter jets as early as 2028–2029, he added.
According to him, there has "indeed been progress" regarding licences for French missiles, "but it is still too early to speak about it," as the matter concerns intellectual property rights to the technologies, the establishment of production as a whole and other "bureaucratic nuances."
Macron also said that during his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, they approved a roadmap for bilateral cooperation to implement the agreements reached in November last year.
In particular, this concerns air defence: Ukraine will purchase the first batch of next-generation SAMP/T batteries, which, according to him, "will supplement the systems and missiles to be delivered in the coming weeks."
Background
According to media reports, this concerns the production of Aster 30 anti-ballistic missiles for SAMP/T air defence systems, AASM Hammer precision-guided bombs and SCALP cruise missiles.
- As a reminder, Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the previous day that Zelenskyy had held "a very good conversation" with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron regarding a licence to produce French SCALP cruise missiles.
