France delivers Milan anti-tank missiles to Ukraine
In addition to protective equipment, Paris has provided kyiv with "a few dozen" of these weapons, used by infantry troops against tanks and armored vehicles.
By Jacques Follorou
Published on March 09, 2022 at 11:43 a.m. - Updated on March 09, 2022 at 3:02 p.m.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, France, which has unreservedly condemned Russian aggression, has on the other hand remained very discreet about its arms deliveries to the Ukrainians. The Head of State and the government – including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on March 6 – swear that they have limited themselves to “defensive equipment and fuel support”.
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Between February 25 and 28, Paris, like other European capitals, provided protective equipment, helmets and bulletproof vests. But, since then, France has been delivering, according to our information, Milan anti-tank missiles to Ukrainian fighters. Taken from the stocks of the French army, the quantity seems, for the time being, to have remained modest – “a few dozen”, between February 28 and March 3, according to a diplomatic source.
This material was handed over to the Ukrainian army at the Polish border. The first equipment transfer operations were supervised, on the French side, by members of the special forces attached to the special operations command, placed under the orders of the Chief of Defense Staff and under the authority of the President of the Republic. , Emmanuel Macron.
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France is not alone in supplying Milan missiles to Ukrainian soldiers. On February 28, Italy officially indicated that it had decided to deliver the same equipment to them among other weapons. All the European nations of NATO are equipped with this type of anti-tank weapon of Franco-German manufacture and these are in fact taken from the stocks purchased from the French. In addition to Italy and Germany, there are other customers, such as Spain or the United Kingdom.
Accurate and powerful missile
The Milan is a very precise and powerful weapon, suitable for fighting against tanks, armored vehicles and buildings. It is a light ground-to-ground missile very popular with infantry troops, capable of firing day and night thanks to an infrared system. The Milan 2, which would be the version given by the Italians to the Ukrainians, can reach targets at 2,500 meters thanks to a semi-automatic guidance system, called “wire-guided”. This missile can be embarked on a vehicle and fixed on a claw or landed, on foot, and used thanks to a shooting station installed on a tripod.
This is the big difference of the missile compared to a rocket launcher without technology, whose launcher tube is thrown away after each use and which has neither its precision nor its power. Finally, when an anti-tank rocket is worth around 800 euros, you will have to pay between 5,000 and 6,000 euros for a Milan. For the latter, we must also take into account the cost of a shooting station, estimated between 23,000 and 24,000 euros. It is not known how many of these sets were delivered to Ukraine. In France, for an infantry section equipped with this type of armament, it takes two.