France is ramping up production of CAESAR self-propelled howitzers against the background of the war in Ukraine.

The French army needs new artillery systems to replace the self-propelled howitzers that were given to Ukraine as military aid.

The French media 20 Minutes reports about this.

It became known that the Arquus manufacturer is starting the production of chassis for the new CAESAR wheeled self-propelled howitzers at its plant in the French city of Limoges.

The new production line plans to produce four units of chassis per month. It is emphasized that this will be a peak load.

Production is expected to begin on Monday.

According to the publication, the French Government Defence procurement and technology agency ordered “two batches of 18 self-propelled guns” from Nexter. Earlier, France announced the transfer of twelve Caesar self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, additionally to the eighteen ones that were delivered to the front earlier.

New self-propelled howitzers are to enter the French army by March 2024.

French journalists showcased the production of barrels for the CAESAR ACS at the NEXTER plant in Bourget. The enterprise representative said that Russia’s war against Ukraine had added work to the plant and accelerated the pace of gun production.

Now that the workers have been transferred to three shifts, and the company has also hired additional welders – the production line is working almost non-stop.

By the end of 2023, Nexter plans to manufacture eight guns per month. This will double the rate of production.

As previously reported, at the end of January this year, French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu said that France would transfer 12 more CAESAR self-propelled guns to Ukraine. At the same time, since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Paris has handed over 18 guns to Kyiv, thus their number will be 30 units. Ukraine is also going to receive 19 French self-propelled guns from Denmark.