Ukraine will produce French-made cruise missiles, precision guided bombs, and air defense interceptor missiles through a license granted by Paris to Kyiv, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday.
Macron made the announcement during Monday’s “Coalition of the Willing” meeting in Paris that saw Macron, President Volodymyr Zelensky, and several other European heads of state reiterate their support of Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of its territory and reaffirm their calls for a ceasefire and direct negotiations between both sides.
At the meeting, Macron revealed that France has issued a license to Ukraine for the manufacturing of the missiles — marking the first time France has granted such a provision to Ukraine. The license contemplates the production of AASM precision-guided air-to-ground bombs, Aster air-defense interceptor missiles and SCALP, long-range air-launched cruise missiles.
The deal, Macron detailed, stems from a letter of intent signed between Paris and Kyiv in November 2025 that outlined Ukraine’s acquisition of 100 aircraft over the next ten years.
At the same time, the French President detailed that Ukraine agreed to acquire 16 Rafale fighter jets from France in addition to its accompanying weapon systems. Per Le Figaro, Macron said that the first batch of Rafale jets are slated to fly over Ukrainian airspace “as early as 2028–2029.”
France’s Dassault Aviation will reportedly prioritize the delivery of the Rafale jets to Ukraine “given its already full-order books.”
The Paris-hosted “Coalition of the Willing” gathering saw its participating members — Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom — agree to establish what the group defined as a “Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.”
Its goal, the group said through a joint statement, is to build a shared defense capability for Europe against ballistic missiles. Ukraine’s experience, acquired over the past years defending against Russia, was acknowledged by the group towards said goal. No timeframe for the ambitious anti-missile program was provided by the participating countries’ joint statement.
Macron’s announcement on Ukraine’s production of French-made missiles comes less than a week after President Donald Trump revealed at the Turkey-hosted NATO Summit that the United States will grant a license to Ukraine for the production of Patriot missiles.
As Breitbart News reported, the Patriot missile are noted for being difficult to intercept due to their travel characteristics and ability to plummet at high speeds towards their targets after being propelled into space.
Over the past months President Zelensky has urgently demanded for more Patriot missiles from NATO members — going as far as to suggest that NATO countries who possesses such missile reserves are “doing nothing” by leaving them stored in “warehouses.” The license announced by President Trump last week, in turn, allows Ukraine to manufacture their own Patriot missiles.
“We’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it, it’s very complex… That’s pretty cool, right? That’s why he can’t complain we’re not giving him enough, make ’em yourself!” President Trump said last week, asserting that Ukraine would be capable of setting up production of the complex missiles in a timely manner.
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