Egypt has signed a contract with France to buy 30 Rafale fighter jets in a deal worth $4.5 billion, the Egypt military spokesman said in a statement early on Tuesday.
As quoted by Reuters, the military spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces, Tamer Al-Rifai, said in a statement: “In the context of the political leadership’s interest in developing and developing the comprehensive state forces, Egypt and France signed a contract to supply 30 Rafale aircraft through the Egyptian Armed Forces and the French Dassault Aviation Company. The concluded contract is financed through a financing loan with a minimum term of 10 years.”
Al-Rifai added, “Egypt and France had concluded in 2015 a contract to supply 24 Rafale aircraft for the Egyptian Air Force, which represents the longitudinal arm to secure the Egyptian national interests.”
Further, the statement said: “It is worth noting that the Rafale aircraft are characterized by high combat capabilities that include the ability to carry out long-range missions, as well as their possession of an advanced armament system, high maneuverability, and the multiplicity of their weapons systems, in addition to their distinctiveness with an advanced electronic warfare system that enables them to be able to Carrying out all the tasks entrusted to it efficiently and efficiently. “
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The announcement by the Egyptian military spokesman came after the French investigative website Disclose revealed that a deal was concluded between Cairo and Paris on April 26th, worth 3.95 billion euros (4.75 billion dollars) to buy 30 Rafale fighters, in addition to a number of missiles, Reuters noted in the report.
The spokesman did not mention the value of the deal, but indicated that “the concluded contract will be financed through a financing loan with a minimum term of ten years.”
The press reports have revealed that the deal was worth $ 4.5 billion.
The report recalled that several countries including India ordered the French and that this sale would confirm its great success.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in December that he would not make arms sales to Egypt conditional on human rights because he did not want to weaken Cairo’s ability to combat terrorism in the region, which angered critics.
Disclose said that the agreement between France and Egypt also includes contracts from the Missile Industry Company (MBDA) and the Safran Electronics and Defense Company to supply equipment worth another 200 million euros.
The two countries show convergence on other regional security issues, such as the differences with Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.