The Aster medium-range anti-aircraft missiles were fired 22 times in the Red Sea, announced Tuesday the Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu during an unprecedented press conference in the presence of all the chiefs of staff.
The two French frigates present in the area have fired 22 Aster against the drones and missiles of the Houthi rebels since December when the first French ship arrived.
The Minister of the Armed Forces also clarified, during a press conference in the presence of all the chiefs of staff, that the delivery times for the long-range Aster anti-aircraft missile produced between France and Italy by MBDA, were too long.
Paris placed an order for 200 Aster missiles in January 2023 for 900 million euros, with their delivery scheduled for 2026 while the ministry intends to have them in the second quarter of 2024.
These missiles, which previously
“were not used or only for training purposes”
, according to the minister, could therefore be missing while the French navy is now engaged in the Red Sea and stocks are provided to Ukraine which deploys a land-based MAMBA system using the same missiles.
Drone shot down by helicopter
French frigates could therefore use other means to neutralize threatening drones and missiles.
A helicopter on board one of the French ships in the Red Sea shot down a drone coming from Yemen in mid-flight, according to images forgotten on March 20 by the French army.
A manufactured Aster anti-aircraft missile on display at the Eurosatory arms fair in Villepinte, north of Paris, June 17, 2002. JACK GUEZ / AFP
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by a Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, Yemen's Houthi rebels have regularly fired in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden on ships they consider linked to to Israel, in
“solidarity”
with the Palestinians of Gaza.
France, for its part, strengthened its military presence in these seas from December.
The army deployed the multi-mission frigate (FREMM)
Alsace
to the region on January 20, which joined the FREMM
Languedoc
which arrived on December 8, 2023. A supply boat, the
Jacques Chevallier
, is also on site.