Exclusive flight-tracking material obtained by AnewZ has raised new questions about French military aircraft movements linked to President Emmanuel Macron’s recent diplomacy with Armenia and the wider scope of France’s defence cooperation with Yerevan.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Armenia was presented as a diplomatic milestone.
According to Le Figaro, Macron’s visit to Yerevan centred on a strategic partnership with Armenia. Defence cooperation was already part of that picture, with Armenia’s 2024 order of 36 French-made Caesar howitzers.
But exclusive material obtained by AnewZ raises questions that go beyond the public partnership.
The question is whether diplomacy was moving alongside a deeper military track.
AnewZ has exclusively obtained ADS-B flight-tracking material showing F-UJCS, an Airbus A330-200 of the French Air and Space Force, flying towards Yerevan on May 4. The next day, the aircraft left Yerevan for Paris. Hours later, it flew from Paris to Istres-Le Tubé, a French military air base near Marseille.
The records do not prove what was on board. But they raise a broader logistics question about whether this was only official transport after the visit, or part of a wider military support chain operating alongside France’s expanding defence relationship with Armenia.
The same aircraft also appears earlier in separate tracking material linked to Japan and South Korea. Screenshots reviewed by AnewZ show F-UJCS, callsign CTM021, moving east from Europe on March 28, then appearing around South Korea and Japan on March 29, April 2 and April 3.
That timing matters. Macron’s Asia tour ran from March 31 to April 3. In Japan, French and Japanese defence ministers signed the Japan-France Defense Roadmap on April 1. In South Korea, Macron and President Lee Jae Myung agreed on April 3 to deepen cooperation, including in defence and energy.
Again, this proves movement, not cargo. But it places the aircraft within a wider pattern of defence-linked diplomacy.
Then came the A400M file.
A tracking image from May 11 shows a French military A400M, callsign CTM2025, moving eastwards towards the South Caucasus. According to the claim being examined by AnewZ, cargo linked to this route was declared to Georgia as gas cylinders, lithium batteries and chemical substances.
The key question is whether the actual cargo was different, possibly Caesar-related components, assemblies or support equipment.
That question became sharper after Caesar howitzers appeared in footage from Yerevan ahead of Armenia’s May 28 Republic Day parade. Public reporting says Armenia signed a 2024 contract for 36 Caesar systems, while recent footage from Armenia showed the systems during parade preparations.
If those systems are displayed publicly, they are no longer only part of a contract. They become a visible military reality on the ground.
The legal issue is also significant.
Under the 1944 Chicago Convention, civilian and military aircraft operate under different legal regimes. If military cargo was moved under a misleading declaration, it would raise questions about airspace permission, transit approval and the integrity of civil aviation rules.
For now, there is no final proof. The public record shows partnership. The exclusive flight records obtained by AnewZ show movement. The footage shows Caesar systems in Armenia. The cargo claim still requires verification.
The key documents remain the A400M manifest, Georgia’s transit permission, ICAO compliance records and independent confirmation of what was actually on board.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 11 November. Today, we cover Russia-Ukraine peace talks, political tensions in Washington, strikes in Spain, espionage allegations involving Nvidia's CEO, and climate negotiations at COP31 in Türkiye.
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Four million workers across Spain joined a general strike on Wednesday over the country’s deepening housing crisis, unions said, bringing disruption to factories, ports, shops and public transport just weeks before a snap general election.
Iran has unveiled a new underground missile and drone base, warning that it will respond forcefully to any attack, as tensions persist with the U.S. and oil tankers continue to be struck by naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Rising demand for air cargo and expanding international aviation networks are opening up new trade opportunities for Central Asia and the South Caucasus, as countries invest in airports and strengthen their roles in global supply chains.
Kazakhstan’s security service has arrested Nurlan Zhakupov, CEO of Samruk-Kazyna, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on suspicion of corruption. Yelzhas Otynshiyev, Chairman of KTZ, Kazakhstan’s national railway firm has also been detained.
An Israeli airstrike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza has killed at least six people, including a surgeon, and wounded 20 others, according to Gaza’s civil defence service.
The competitiveness of international trade depends on how efficiently goods move across borders. These issues are in focus at the 22nd International Exhibition of Transport and Logistics – TransLogistica Uzbekistan 2026, taking place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 10 to 12 November.
Armenia has been stripped of its voting rights in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) over unpaid membership fees, in another sign of the deteriorating relationship between Yerevan and Moscow.
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