CHAIRMAN: DR. KHALID BIN THANI AL THANI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: PROF. KHALID MUBARAK AL-SHAFI

World / Middle East

France delivers 3 more Rafale fighters to Egypt

Published: 28 Jan 2016 - 01:46 pm | Last Updated: 13 Nov 2021 - 04:18 am
Peninsula

Rafale fighter jets queue on the flight deck as they prepare to take off from France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Gulf, January 27, 2016. REUTERS /Philippe Wojazer

 

Cairo: Egypt was to receive three Rafale fighters from France on Thursday, a French embassy official said, six months after Paris delivered the first three of a consignment of 24 of the warplanes.

The delivery is part of a 5.2 billion-euro ($5.6 billion) deal Cairo signed with Paris in February 2015 to purchase 24 Rafale multi-role combat jets, a frigate and missiles.

The sale of Rafales to Egypt was the first such export order for French manufacturer Dassault Aviation. 

In July, France also delivered a 6,000-tonne multi-mission frigate to Cairo as Egypt seeks to boost its military capability in the face of instability in Libya and a jihadist insurgency in its Sinai Peninsula.

In October, the two countries signed another contract to buy two French Mistral warships, whose sale to Russia was cancelled by Paris because of the Ukraine crisis.

AFP