Egypt Close To Buying 22 Rafale Fighters, 2 FREMM Frigates Worth Euro 6 Billion

Egypt and France are close to signing a 5 to 6 billion Euro contract for the sale of twenty Rafale and two FREMM multi-mission frigates.

La Tribune newspaper said on its website today that a French delegation of the Treasury visited Cairo earlier this week to assess the security of Egypt in the event of an agreement with the French manufacturers.  The Egyptians have responded positively to the questions and especially the expectations of the French delegation, the report said quoting reliable sources.  

Following the treasury delegation visit, the CEOs of Dassault Aviation, Eric Trappier,  Herve Guillou of DCNS,  and Antoine Bouvier of MBDA were in Cairo on Thursday to discuss an agreement with Egypt to finalize the negotiations, the report said quoting “several sources”.

Earlier, an Egyptian delegation had visited Paris in mid-December purportedly to discuss the arms deal, the report said.

Contracts could be signed “in a few weeks”, according to the report. If the deal goes through, it would be the third success for Dassault after India and Qatar where the French company is in advanced negotiations to sell the Rafale.