TASSWed, 15 Feb 2023 12:00 UTC
© Artem Geodakyan/TASSFrance faces shortages of munitions amid arms supplies to Kiev — paper Vincent Bru urged to replenish the country's military arsenals
The armed forces of France are experiencing shortages of munitions against the backdrop of the country's military aid to the Kiev government, the
Le Figaro newspaper wrote.
"Ground forces are facing shortages of 155mm munitions [used in howitzers and artillery cannons]," the paper quoted Julien Rancoule, a member of the French parliament's lower chamber representing the National Rally party, who compiled a report about the country's ammunition reserves jointly with another lawmaker, Vincent Bru of the Democratic Movement.
The report "outlines reasons for re-assessing stocks of ammunition, keeping in mind the possibility of a major standoff," Le Figaro reported.
Bru, in turn, urges to replenish the country's military arsenals. In his opinion,
the policy of keeping defense stockpiles at the minimal level for economic reasons should be abandoned.
"Tensions between those who favor supporting Ukraine and those who want to save the stockpiles for national defense reasons are expected to grow" in the near future, the newspaper said.
Jamie Shea, former NATO's deputy assistant secretary general, earlier told
Sky News that
NATO had largely used up the available military stocks while helping Ukraine, and will have to urgently deal with the problem of replenishing its stocks.
Comment: News Front reports:
French authorities are working with military-industrial companies to speed up and increase the volume of munitions production both for Ukraine and its own army, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecorniou said.
"The issue of ammunition will be an important topic on which France intends to work with MBDA and NEXER. Efforts will be made to increase production capacity, to speed up production, to build up stocks faster both to assist Ukraine and to resupply the French army," the minister said ahead of the NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels.
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the rate of ammunition consumption in Ukraine now exceeds the West's ability to produce it. According to him, the wait for large-calibre ammunition has now grown from 12 to 28 months.
Russia earlier sent a note to NATO countries over arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that any cargo containing arms for Ukraine would be a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian foreign ministry said that NATO countries were "playing with fire" by supplying weapons to Ukraine. The Russian president's press secretary, Dmitriy Peskov, noted that pumping weapons into Ukraine from the West would have a negative effect.
How many gears does a French Tank have? Seven. One forward and six reverse.