Armenia Signs Contract to Acquire CAESAR Howitzers from France

PARIS — France will sell CAESAR self-propelled howitzers to Armenia in another arms deal between the two countries announced by French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu on Tuesday.

Lecornu made the announcement on the X social media platform the day after holding what he described as a “warm and productive meeting” in Paris with his Armenian counterpart Suren Papikyan. He said the contract for the acquisition of the howitzers was signed during the talks.

Lecornu did not specify how many such systems Armenia will buy and at what cost. He said only that the contract marks a “new important milestone” in French-Armenian military ties.

“We continue to strengthen our defense relationship with Armenia,” wrote Lecornu.

The Armenian Defense Ministry reported on Monday that one of Papikyan’s deputies, Karen Brutyan, and a top executive of KNDS France, the manufacturer of CAESAR systems, signed an “agreement on military-technical cooperation.” It gave no details of the deal signed in the presence of the two ministers.

In a separate statement, the ministry said without elaborating that Papikyan and Lecornu reached “new understandings” on French-Armenian military cooperation.

With a firing range of more than 40 kilometers, CAEASAR is one of the most advanced artillery systems of its kind in the world.

Baku was quick to denounce the announced sale of CAESAR systems to Yerevan, calling it “another proof of France’s provocative actions in the South Caucasus.” A statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also said “the Armenian leadership and [French President Emmanuel] Macron’s dictatorship will bear full responsibility for creating a new hotbed of war” in the region.