YEREVAN, December 4. /TASS/. France will supply Armenia with a total of 50 Bastion armored vehicles manufactured by the Arquus company, while keeping the door open for a deal to supply Caesar artillery systems, the Armenian state news agency Armenpress reported citing an internal document of the French Senate.
According to the agency, 24 armored vehicles have already been delivered to Armenia. Another 26 will arrive later; they are currently being produced.
"Armenia recently signed an order for three GM200 radars from Thales and there is talk of a delivery of MISTRAL 3 surface-to-air missiles. The rapporteurs are able to indicate that 24 Bastion-type armored vehicles, produced by the French group Arquus, are being delivered to Armenia and should be joined by 26 other vehicles of the same type currently in production. The French authorities have initiated the delivery of "defensive" weapons to Armenia. <...> Let's not repeat the same mistakes by late delivering equipment that would have been necessary from the start. This is why we must respond quickly to all the requests from the Armenian authorities, particularly regarding their need for artillery. The rapporteurs recommend, in this regard, that the delivery of CAESAR artillery systems be studied as soon as possible taking into account the effectiveness of this equipment and the new production capacities of Nexter in 2024," Armenpress quoted the text of the document.
Earlier, the Armenian authorities said that they intended to diversify their arms purchases, as Yerevan claimed that it had not received the weapons it had already paid for from Russia.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said at a press conference in Yerevan on October 3 that Paris was ready to sign an agreement on military assistance.
As The Economic Times reported, India is also ready to supply arms to Armenia. According to the newspaper, the deals are for a total of $244.7 mln. Yerevan has already received Indian-designed Pinaka multi-barrel rocket launchers within these agreements, which were sold abroad for the first time. Armenia also received anti-tank missiles and a batch of ammunition. The deliveries were made via a transportation corridor through Iran.