On April 2, the French Minister of Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, during a visit to the Nexter facility, announced that the company is working on increasing the production of the CAESAR artillery systems. This move is linked to the support France is providing to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Previously, in 2022, Nexter was capable of producing two CAESAR howitzers per month. Following the production increase, the company has now reached a level of 6 howitzers per month. The French Minister announced, however, that Nexter will soon be producing 12 CAESAR howitzers per month.
Sébastien Lecornu did not specify when exactly the company will achieve such production efficiency, merely stating that it would happen “soon”.
According to the Minister, the increase in production has been made possible by shortening the time needed to produce the artillery system. Currently, the production cycle of a CAESAR howitzer is 44 months, but this is to be reduced to 18 months. The CAESAR is a 155mm calibre artillery system proven in real combat in Ukraine.
According to official information from the French Ministry of Armed Forces, to date, France has supplied the Armed Forces of Ukraine with 30 such howitzers in a 6×6 chassis configuration. Additionally, Denmark has delivered 19 howitzers on an 8×8 chassis to Ukraine.