The French government has announced plans to deliver brutal new weapons to Ukraine that could help turn the tide of the fraught conflict – kamikaze drones.
They will be delivered to the war-torn country within the next few weeks, French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu told Journal du Dimanche. He said France was currently developing the new technology, and it is currently in the experimental and testing phase.
The minister said: “In the coming weeks, Ukraine will be among the first to receive these drones. This also presents an opportunity for combat testing of this new generation of equipment.”
He did not detail the specific technical characteristics of the drones.
He added that since the full-scale invasion began, France has trained 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers – with plans to train an additional 7,000 to 9,000 in place throughout 2024.
Modern drones with advanced artificial intelligence systems are also expected to be supplied to Ukraine in cooperation with the US and the UK.
The drones could turn the tide against Putin’s infamous Black Sea fleet, the commander of which the Kremlin has just quietly sacked.
Russian military bloggers said that the sinking of the Caesar Kunikov transport ship on Wednesday had angered Putin, who finally sacked Admiral Viktor Sokolov. The ship had been taken down by several drones, Ukraine’s military said.
“It seems that it had become impossible to ignore the latest heavy losses of the fleet,” the War Informant channel said.
Missile and drone strikes have proved devastating for the fleet, damaging a series of warships and a submarine. In response, Russia intends to build a base on the coast of Abkhazia, a pro-Russia rebel region of Georgia about 380 miles from Ukraine.
Drones have emerged as a key part of Ukraine’s defence since Republicans began to block US aid to Ukraine last October.
Ukraine responded by growing domestic supply of two-pound first-person-view drones, each packing a pound of explosives. By December, workers in Ukraine were building around 50,000 FPVs a month at a cost of a few hundred dollars apiece, Forbes reports.
Russian drone jammers – which they are increasingly strapping to vehicles in response – are reportedly failing to work, making drones one of the most effective parts of Kyiv’s arsenal.
