France to send another 12 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine, minister says

Kateryna Denisova -

French-German defense company KNDS signed a deal on Oct. 3 for the supply of 12 Caesar howitzers financed by Ukraine, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said.

The news came days after KNDS announced it had opened an office in Kyiv to support Ukraine carry out the domestic maintenance and repair of land systems and produce artillery ammunition.

"Increasing the production capacity of our defense industry helps to support Ukraine," Lecornu said.

France has supplied Ukraine with dozens of Caesar howitzers, a self-propelled artillery system capable of hitting targets up to 55 kilometers (34 miles) away.

The company said it makes around 800 systems used by or contracted for the Ukrainian army, including the Caesar, the Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft gun tank, and the PzH 2000 armored howitzer.

KNDS is also planning to jointly manufacture NATO-standard 155 mm artillery ammunition and produce spare parts with the Ukrainian industry.

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