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France has refused to publicly disclose what "defensive military equipment" it's been sending to Ukraine, in order not to "provoke" Russia.

But there are plenty of country-specific weapon systems that would give away their origin, especially given the thousands of combat footage videos posted in the age of the smartphone. Everything from Panzerfausts to NLAWs to Javelins were sighted in such footage. But have any French weapons been seen?

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    @Trilarion: in theory. The thing is the French army is almost exclusively equipped with French equipment. E.g. their only AA missile is the Mistral. Most of their ATGM are French too: Milan, MMP etc. Probably the only thing that's not so is the Swedish AT4, but the Swedes themselves have sent 5,000 or 10,000 of those to Ukraine (sources differ a bit). Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 9:05
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    could it be medical supplies or even supplies for logistic ? Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 9:07
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    @quarague: the 2nd one is from March 9. I haven't seen any newer sources on the issue. Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 10:21
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    I think le monde reported that France was sending 'dozens' of Milan to Ukraine at some point... but then Italy has sent Milan missiles too.
    – CDJB
    Commented Mar 25, 2022 at 14:37
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    The Javelin purchase is interesting in that respect. It was one of several emergency purchase because the French Army found itself poorly equipped in Afghanistan. @Fizz They have already been retired while waiting for a French missile to replace the MILAN.
    – Relaxed
    Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 14:08

2 Answers 2

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Yes - I commented a few weeks ago that Le Monde had reported that, according to an unnamed diplomatic source, France had delivered 'a few dozen' MILAN anti-tank guided missiles to Ukraine - my translation below:

Between 25 and 28 February, Paris, like other European capitals, provided protective equipment, helmets and bulletproof vests. But since then, according to our information, France has been delivering Milan anti-tank missiles to Ukrainian fighters. Taken from French army stocks, the quantity appears, for the time being, to have remained modest - "a few dozen", between 28 February and 3 March, according to a diplomatic source.

More recently, footage has emerged of Ukrainian troops being trained on the use of these missiles. A report by CNN on the Mozart Group, headed by retired US Marine Andy Milburn, which is providing support to the Ukrainian forces, contained a few brief clips of these systems on the ground in Ukraine - at 1:30 and 2:36 - screenshot from the first clip below with the 'MILAN' logo visible on the weapon case. As far as I'm aware, this report on April 12th is the first footage of French weapons on the ground in Ukraine.

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Emmanuel Macron confirmed on April 22nd in an interview with French newspaper Ouest France that France had delivered weapons to Ukraine:

Q: You say that Ukraine must be helped, also militarily. Should Europe provide heavy weapons, in particular tanks, like the German Leopard tanks?
A: Everyone takes their responsibilities with their political balances, and I do not interfere in the political life of others. We are very coordinated. The day before yesterday, I spoke to Chancellor Scholz about this subject. We are delivering a lot of equipment, from Milans to Caesars and several types of weapons. I think we should continue along this path. But we must always keep a red line, which is not to enter into cobelligerence.

The Caesar is an all-terrain truck equipped with a 155 mm cannon with a range of 40 km.
According to another article, 12 Caesar will be sent to Ukraine.

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