Military Watch: The secret of the great success in the Rafale deal and the transfer of Egypt to the list of elite

A magazine specialized in arms and ammunition affairs in the world revealed the details of the deal that Egypt concluded with France to buy the French “Rafale” fighters, pointing to a great Egyptian success regarding the deal.

Reuters agency quoted a ministry official as saying that Egypt will receive the 30 Rafale fighters agreed between 2024 and 2026 within the framework of a previously announced contract.

The French official indicated that a contract for financing fighter jets will be signed today with the Egyptian side, and implementation will start by mid-June.

Military Watch, a magazine specialized in military affairs, noted that Egypt had implemented a maneuver in the negotiations, as it prolonged the negotiations with the aim of reaching the best possible contractual formula with the French side.

The magazine revealed that Egypt has obtained an ideal purchase contract, as the Egyptian side will receive 30 fighters under a deal worth 3.75 billion euros (4.5 billion dollars), to be financed through a loan that will be repaid over a period of at least 10 years.

This announcement comes after years of talks about a possible follow-up to a deal signed in February 2015, the negotiations have been prolonged, as Egypt carefully studied the available alternatives due to what the magazine described as “French inflexibility regarding the price of fighters”.

The new deal makes the Egyptian side the largest foreign operator of this class of aircraft in the world, with a fleet size of 54 fighters.

It is worth noting, according to the source, that the fighters will come at an average cost of $ 150 million each, in contrast to the capacity obtained by the Indian side to buy 36 fighters, as the price of one fighter provided to India was about $ 217 million per plane, which is 45% more than the value.

To be paid by the Egyptian side, which reveals a great Egyptian negotiating success.

The magazine noted that the new “Rafale” deal represents the fourth major Egyptian contract for the purchase of new fighters since the events of 2013, as Egypt went after that to buy from countries other than the US.

Other contracts for the new fighters included contracts to purchase 46 Russian “MiG-29M” medium-weight fighters.

Another promise to buy 24 lightweight Rafale fighters.

In addition to another contract signed in 2018 to purchase 26 heavyweight “Su-35” fighters, which are currently considered “elite”, according to the magazine’s description.

A report by the French newspaper “La Tribune” said that the contract that Egypt signed with France to buy the “Rafale” fighters may hide behind it other military requests, including a very important weapon in the event of a war outside the territory of Egypt.

But the newspaper mentioned that behind the “Rafale” contract, which will enter into force in June, or even in July for Egypt, other contracts may be announced soon, such as Cairo’s purchase of a satellite, two MRTT refueling planes and remote radar systems.

The report indicated that France stood as a guarantor for several French banking institutions, not for financing of 4 billion euros (the price of the 30 Rafales), but for a total amount of 5.4 billion, according to identical sources reported to the newspaper.

The report indicated that Cairo recently purchased four “GM400” long-range 3D radar systems, developed and designed by Thales for Defense and Security.

The “MRTT” aircraft is one of the “most capable new generation multi-mission carriers”, as it is described on the “Airbus” defense website, as it “has proven its efficiency on the battlefield, and has unique multi-role capabilities”.

Egypt’s acquisition of aircraft designated for refueling by air means increasing the range that its combat aircraft can reach, thus enhancing its ability to carry out operations outside its territory.

Egyptian imports of French arms totaled 7.7 billion euros between 2010 and 2019, making Cairo the fourth largest importer of arms from France, according to the annual report of the French Parliament.