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France in talks with Egypt to sell two more corvette warships

25 July 2015 21:34 (UTC +04:00)

A French diplomat said Saturday that talks have begun on adding two more naval corvettes to a previous order of four by Egypt during negotiations earlier in the day between officials in Cairo and French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.

“There is a bid for two more corvettes; the discussions are ongoing,” the source said after a meeting between Le Drian and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Egypt has already signed a contract with the French company DCNS to receive four Gowind-class corvettes in a USD 1.1-billion deal.

The request for more state-of-the-art vessels came days after Cairo took delivery of three of the 24 Rafale fighter jets it bought from Paris for USD 5.9 billion. Egypt has been the first country to buy the warplanes.

Le Drian is on an African tour, which will see him visit countries like the Central African Republic, Djibouti and Congo Brazzaville. Earlier in the day, he met senior Egyptian officials, including Sedki Sobhi, the country’s defense minister.

France’s increased sale of military equipment to Egypt comes against the backdrop of incessant efforts by Paris to broaden its presence in the Middle East military equations. The socialist government of President Francois Hollande has already sealed deals with Saudi Arabia for delivering weapons worth more than USD 12 billion.

Egypt, however, says it wants the jets and warships to improve its military capability in dealing with rising threats from an unstable Libya next door and also the militancy in its northern Sinai Peninsula.