The France-Ukraine deal around the Rafale jets is more than a mere arms deal, explains Michael Benhamou, Director at OPEWI, Europe’s War Institute. It’s a formal declaration of strategic alignment. This is a signal that France and Ukraine are charting a course together for the coming decade. The 100 Rafales deal will ‘lock the relationship between France and Ukraine for at least a decade.” And while the commitments were signed today, their full effect: the training, the battlefield integration, the operational readiness, will be years in the making. This will also be a prime opportunity for France to show all of Europe renewed life.