France spins its Ukraine aid

— The numbers show that France is a laggard when it comes to arming Ukraine, but a parliament report argues that it’s doing better than suggested.

— Airbus is complaining that the German government is blocking Eurofighter sales to Saudi Arabia.

— Germany spells out the details of its future troop deployment to Lithuania, the first time in its post-war history that soldiers will be permanently stationed abroad.

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FRANCE PUTS POSITIVE SPIN ON AID TO UKRAINE: The numbers showing that France is the military skinflint among European countries when it comes to donating weapons and ammunition to Ukraine don’t paint the full picture, French lawmakers argue in a report presented Wednesday and seen by Morning Defense. 

Numbers game: According to the Kiel Institute, which tabulates military aid to Ukraine up to July 31, France lags behind many EU countries with a commitment of €533 million — barely 0.02 percent of GDP. In comparison, Germany sent €17 billion worth of military aid or 0.4 percent of GDP, and the U.K. has sent €6.6 billion or 0.23 percent of GDP. Eevn tiny Lithuania is far ahead at €715 million. However, French lawmakers contest the institute’s methodology and estimate that French support actually amounts to €3.2 billion.

Beware of industrial cooperation: The report also backs the French pivot from weapons donation to cooperation with Ukrainian industry — but warns there should be a limit to make sure Ukrainian contractors don’t become rivals. Transfers of technology shouldn’t go beyond the replacement of spare parts, the lawmakers argue. “We need to preserve our defense industrial base and our know-how to avoid competition from the Ukrainians on certain niches,”  the co-author’s report Lionel Royer-Perreaut told reporters. Ukraine has made clear they want to become an arms exporter in the longer term, he said.

Read more from Laura here.

NATO: Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg meets with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in Berlin Thursday to discuss deterrence and defense as well as the current situation in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Stoltenberg will also receive the 2023 Henry A. Kissinger Prize from American Academy in Berlin in recognition of his role in rallying NATO members to support Ukraine. Caleb will be in attendance.

**A message from ASD: Today, important negotiations on EU finances are ongoing: the review of the current MFF, the European economic governance framework, and even the next MFF. In all these negotiations, appropriate defence spending must be a high priority, to ensure that Europe can fulfil its declared objective to become a credible security provider.**

ITALY DEPLOYS TO GAZA : The Italian navy ship Vulcano, equipped with a hospital and operating theaters, is being deployed to the Middle East to receive wounded people from Gaza, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Wednesday, ANSA reported. “We want to deploy close to the areas affected by the war” between Israel and Hamas in order “to send clear signals of what Italy thinks and how Italy intends to move toward the Palestinian people,” said Crosetto. He added that a field hospital would be sent directly to Gaza.

Military budget: A day earlier, Crosetto was in the Italian Senate, where he admitted that Italy would have a hard time meeting NATO’s defense budget threshold of 2 percent of GDP. He said Italy’s defense spending is projected to reach 1.46 percent of GDP this year before falling to 1.38 percent in 2024 and 1.26 percent in 2025. He blamed the EU’s fiscal rules, which limit national deficits.

MORE AMMUNITION FOR UKRAINE: Rheinmetall received an order from the German government for 100,000 120mm mortar rounds, a contract valued in the lower-three-digit million-euro range. The order is part of a recent €400 million aid package for Ukraine, the company said. Although Rheinmetall says delivery to Ukraine will begin “shortly” — sending the full munitions package will extend “over the next two years.”

UKRAINIAN DOMESTIC DEFENSE FUNDING SECURED: Ukrainian Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin took to X to laud a funding package passed by parliament that allocates $1.5 billion for drones, $1.2 billion for “expanding capabilities,” and $350 million for artillery system procurement. Kamyshin said most of the funding for drone procurement will go on domestic production.

SLOVAK GOVERNMENT BLOCKS UKRAINE AID PACKAGE: Slovakia will block its 14th military aid package to Ukraine, worth €40.3 million, Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government decided on Wednesday. The package had been prepared under the previous government and included 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition, 5,172 rounds of 125mm ammunition as well as air defense missiles, mortars and mines.

Support shift: Before Fico came to power, Slovakia was one of the biggest military backers of Ukraine, sending €671 million worth of aid including most of its Soviet-era weaponry such as tanks, fighter jets and ammunition. More here.

FRENCH CASH FOR UKRAINE: France’s National Assembly approved re-topping the country’s special fund for Ukraine with another €200 million. MPs tweaked the cash pot’s rules to allow for co-financing by Ukrainian authorities, meaning the total amount of contracts signed can be higher than €200 million. The Senate needs to green light the money before it can be spent.

RUSSIAN MARITIME ATTACK: Russian warplanes struck a civilian cargo vessel docked in Odesa port on Wednesday evening, Ukrainian army operative command South said in a statement. “The rocket hit the superstructure of a civilian vessel under the flag of Liberia as it was entering the port,” the statement said, adding that one person was killed and three crew members were injured.

Shipping lane: Ukraine had managed to reopen the port to civilian shipping after chasing much of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet away from the western part of the sea.

EU MULLS DEFENSE TWEAK TO FISCAL RULES: The Spanish presidency of the EU Council is considering granting defense spending special status under the bloc’s new economic governance review, Euractiv reports. A draft presidency paper suggests that member states that increase defense spending should be handled with more leniency if they exceed the EU’s rule limiting national budget deficits to a maximum of 3 percent of GDP.

AIRBUS ANGER OVER SAUDI JET SALES: Guillaume Faury, the CEO of Airbus, on Wednesday complained about the German government’s refusal to allow the export of Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia because of that country’;s involvement in the war in Yemen and its poor human rights record. He told reporters he is “calling for clear and visible decisions on that topic to be able to enable exports to Saudi Arabia for the Eurofighter which we believe is something that would make sense,” the FT reported.

Revenue fall: Faury was talking on the day the company released its third quarter earnings. It said that it is committed to restructuring its Defence and Space division, which saw a 6 percent drop in revenues over the past nine months while the overall company noted a 12 percent increase in revenues. The fall was blamed on a “backloaded” delivery of A400M military transport aircraft and “Completion of certain satellite development programmes.” The A400M is a challenging program for Airbus: despite being widely recognized as an efficient airplane,  contracts are not yet sufficient to ensure production in the long term.

**What will the future of Europe’s defense policy look like? Join our speaker line-up at POLITICO Live’s Defense Launch event on November 21 to learn about this and much more. The event will start with an exclusive joint interview and will be followed by a high-level panel discussion. Register to watch online!**

RUSSIA, CHINA MILITARY COOPERATION: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that “high-tech” projects with China on space and defense projects were ramping up, according to TASS. “Our cooperation, our contacts in the military and military-technical spheres are becoming increasingly important,” Putin said during a meeting in Moscow with Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission.

SHETLAND ROCKET CASH BOOST: The European Space Agency approved £3.5 million in funding from its Boost! Program to support private space transportation programs for the U.K. subsidiary of Germany’s Rocket Factory Augsburg. The cash will be used to help the company finance the maiden launch of its One rocket, with a payload capacity of 1,300 kilograms, from the SaxaVord Spaceport on the Shetland Islands in the second half of next year.

GERMAN UNITS MOVE EAST: Germany’s defense ministry gave an update on the two German units that will be stationed in Lithuania — Panzerbataillon 203, a tank battalion, and Panzergrenadierbataillon 122, an infantry fighting vehicle battalion.

German reinforcements: Earlier last month, Defense Minister Pistorius announced the new deployments, designed to strengthen NATO’s northeastern flank and part of the alliance’s enhanced Forward Presence. The deployment of 4,800 troops will begin next year and will be completed four years later; it marks the first time in Germany’s postwar history that a large grouping of soldiers will be permanently stationed abroad.

AIR DEFENSE PULLBACK: The Bundeswehr will end its air defense mission in Poland on Friday, the German ministry of defense said in an emailed statement. Berlin initially sent three Patriot missile batteries and troops, part of NATO’s enhanced Vigilance Activities, following an errant rocket that struck Polish territory last year. The ministry said that the original mission was planned for just six months and had been extended; the German Patriots will be used to contribute to the NATO Response Force next year.

JETS OVER ROMANIA: Germany will deploy four Eurofighter jets to Romania to support NATO’s air policing mission from the end of this month, Reuters reports, citing a security source.

SPANISH/AUSTRALIAN TEAM: The Australian subsidiary of Spain’s Navantia partnered with Australian shipyards Austal and Civmec to offer the Australian government a proposal for the design and manufacture of six corvettes.

THANKS TO: Jan Cienski and Zoya Sheftalovich.

**A message from ASD: The modest financial envelopes of recent initiatives on joint procurement (EDIRPA) and ammunition production (ASAP) illustrate the inadequate financing of defence at the EU-level. The ongoing mid-term review of the current MFF, the current negotiation about the Stability and Growth Pact, the continuing debate about the EIB lending policy and the forthcoming preparation of the next MFF are all important opportunities to bring EU finances up to the challenges of the new security arena and give defence the priority it needs to protect the Union and its citizens.**