Sisi is abandoning the United States in favor of France

The deal that Egypt made with France to acquire 30 Rafale fighter jets, which was officially announced last Monday, still raises many political and military question marks in a region witnessing rapid developments such as the Middle East.

The decline of the Middle East in the concerns of the White House since the last year in the second term of President Barack Obama, then President Donald Trump and currently Joe Biden has been its adoption of the countries of the region that began to review their accounts and search for new allies and weapons sources.

Egypt was a pioneer in implementing this policy, as it opened up to Russia and bought the Su 35 fighter jets from it, opened more to France and signed huge arms deals with it, and bought two Mistral warships from it in a deal that exceeded two billion euros, then bought 24 Rafale fighter jets.

In 2015, a deal was signed to buy an advanced “FREME” frigate, and now it buys 30 “Rafale” fighters at once, and there are talks about deals that have not been announced yet.

Egypt obtained an advanced version of the “Rafale” fighters, almost equivalent to the version used by the French Air Force, and advanced missiles with the destructive power of the missiles that are installed in the Rafale of the French army.

Until recently, the Egyptian Air Force relied on US “F-16” aircraft.

Under Sisi, Egypt began to abandon these fighters and renew its fleet with Russian “Su 35” and then “Rafale” fighters, from which it will have a total of 54 fighters.

In recent years, Egypt has become the main customer for the French military industry, surpassing countries such as Saudi Arabia, and Sisi applies this policy to free his country of the United States.

Radio Europe 1 considered in its analysis last Thursday about the recent military deal that it is not a regular military one, as it indicates a deep strategic partnership between Egypt and France to coordinate on issues related to the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Indeed, France was looking for a partner in the Middle East in order to compensate for the gradual US withdrawal, and in turn, Egypt was looking for a strong political partner in the West that did not stipulate the issue of human rights in bilateral relations.

It is very likely that Egypt will continue to acquire French arms, and in the second degree Russian weapons, and gradually move away from the US weapons.