Belgium, France, Cyprus, Estonia and Hungary will jointly purchase Mistral short-range surface-to-air missiles, the French Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Tuesday.
The French ministry confirmed an announcement that was made on Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In order to “strengthen air defence capabilities”, Belgium and the other European states agreed to participate in the French plans to jointly acquire the Mistral missiles.
“This is the first concretisation of the desire for a joint acquisition of defence capabilities eligible for EU funding planned following the Versailles summit in March 2022,” the French Ministry of the Armed Forces explained in a press release.
The joint purchase also reflects the willingness of the member countries to cooperate in the face of growing security challenges. A letter of intent was signed by the ministers of the five countries on 19 June, on the occasion of a conference on air and anti-missile defence in Europe in Paris.
The missiles will be acquired from the defence company MBDA by the French Directorate General of Armaments (DGA). This total order could exceed 1,000 missiles.
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Belgium parted ways with its stock of Mistral missiles during budget cuts in 2017 and now uses older, outdated systems. Now, the country is attempting to rebuild its stock by 2030, equipping a small combat anti-aircraft unit based in Lombardsijde in West Flanders.
Mistral missiles first entered into service with the French army in 1988 and can strike targets of up to six kilometres away.
