France Provides Cruise Missile Blueprints to Ukraine...Capable of Striking Russian Territory

Granting the Right to Local Production

France has decided to provide Ukraine with the blueprints for long-range cruise missiles capable of striking targets inside Russian territory, and will allow local production of these missiles in Ukraine.

According to The Telegraph (UK) on July 15 (local time), French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a defense agreement in Paris the previous day that included these provisions.

President Zelensky

The agreement between the two countries goes beyond merely providing weapons, granting Ukrainian weapons manufacturers the rights to produce the 'Scalp' cruise missile in their own domestic factories.

Ukraine has also obtained licenses to locally produce the advanced 'Aster 30' interceptor missile for air defense and the 'AASM' precision-guided air-to-ground bomb.

Along with this, Ukraine has placed a new order for 16 state-of-the-art French Rafale fighter jets and confirmed the introduction of four batteries of the advanced SAMP/T surface-to-air defense system.

With this deal, Ukraine has become the first country to deploy the SAMP/T system, which was co-developed by France and Italy, in active combat operations.

President Zelensky, who visited Paris to sign the agreement, stated, "France has demonstrated genuine leadership for the good of all of Europe."

This decision by France comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to allow local production of 'PAC-3' interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense system in Ukraine.

Long-range strike weapons and air defense interceptor missiles are considered core assets for Ukraine, both for attacking targets within Russian territory and for defending cities and energy infrastructure from Russia's large-scale missile strikes.

Earlier this year, Ukraine used British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles (known as Scalp in France) to strike major Russian military industrial facilities, and has continued to attack Russian oil facilities using both missiles and drones.

In particular, as Russia continues large-scale missile bombardments against Ukraine's major cities and energy infrastructure, this agreement on the local production of air defense and strike assets is expected to significantly bolster Ukraine's defensive capabilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.