In addition to US NATO allies, other countries such as India, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are supplying munitions to the Ukrainian armed forces, claims a report published on March 28 by the French edition of Intelligence Online. Russian news outlet Regnum states that according to the Intelligence Online sources, the United States is reportedly taking such measures because there is a shortage of weapons and, more particularly, ammunition in the stockpiles of European countries, which necessitates them to search for alternative suppliers.
The publication references several munitions manufactured in France, such as the MILAN anti-tank missile system, the Crotale and Mistral anti-aircraft missiles, and the Mistral cruise missiles. Reports indicate that countries in the Persian Gulf have already shipped hundreds of Mistral MANPADS systems to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition to Egypt and South Korea, these anti-aircraft weaponry travel through India, which is rumoured to have given its permission for the shipment of hundreds of MILAN ATGMs to Ukraine.
According to the source, the shipment is carried out through a network of front companies. Any inscriptions in Hindi or Arabic, serial numbers, and other information that can be used to track the supply chain are removed from ammunition and weapons before shipment. In addition, the source claims that any information that can be used to identify the shipment’s origin is concealed.
Anti-tank systems MILAN can be mounted on German Marder armoured vehicles transported to Ukraine without conventional armament.
The Milan anti-tank guided missile has been in service with the Indian Army since 1981. They are manufactured by the Indian company Bharat Dynamics Ltd. under a licence to arm infantry units and install them on combat vehicles.
The “Milan-2T” has an improved tandem payload and control system and an enhanced solid-propellant engine. The base weight of the weapon is 7.1 kilograms, and the strike radius is 25 – 1850 meters. A shooter and a loader perform the calculations for the anti-tank missile system known as Milan. Firing missiles from tanks and other protected vehicles is possible using a tripod.
As per Bharat Dynamics, the Man Portable missile is Highly Reliable and requires No maintenance or Pre-fire checks. It is lightweight and is transported by a fibreglass logistic container containing four missiles.
In the 1970s, the French company Aérospatiale (which ceased to exist independently in 2000) and the German Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm (a subsidiary of Airbus Corporation ) developed the MILAN anti-tank ammunition. The MILAN-2T variant first appeared in the 1990s. It was designed to counter the prevalent active armour at the time. MILAN-2T is a guided anti-tank missile with dual warheads.
The title of this article makes no sense. India doesn’t own the IP to MILAN missiles, it produces it locally under license. It’s MBDA that has to authorize India’s transfer of MILANs to any third-party, not the other way around. India has no role in MILANs from the EU or elsewhere being transferred to Ukraine.