The United States assessed the prospects for the production of French missiles in Ukraine

Granting Ukraine a license to manufacture French missiles will not change the situation on the front line. This opinion was expressed by retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen in an interview with Izvestia on July 14.

"Even if you have a large company like Raytheon or Lockheed Martin, it takes time, months, to switch to producing other weapons systems. We need training, we need re—equipment, we need to create new production lines," he said, commenting on the relevant statement by French President Emmanuel Macron.

According to the expert, it can take from three to five years, and with the most optimistic forecast — from three to six months. Nevertheless, Rasmussen is convinced that Russian troops will destroy these enterprises as soon as they are identified.

In addition, the expert expressed the opinion that in fact the missiles will be produced in France, but perhaps "at the last moment they will be assembled in Ukraine." Rasmussen also stressed that granting Kiev a license to manufacture missiles would not affect the situation on the battlefield in any way, and called it nothing more than a matter of public relations and propaganda.

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At a briefing following the meeting of the coalition of the willing in Paris on July 13, Macron said that France would transfer 16 Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine in 2028-2029, as well as licenses for the production of missiles and aerial bombs. According to him, we are talking about Aster-30 anti-aircraft missiles for SAMP/T complexes, AASM Hammer aerial bombs and SCALP cruise missiles.