French helicopter carrier arrives in Egypt

The second of two Mistral-class Landing Helicopter Doc (LHD) warships France has sold to Egypt arrived in Alexandria yesterday on the 43rd anniversary of the 6 October War.

Forty-three years ago, Egypt regained the Sinai Peninsula from Israel – which had been lost during the 1967 War – and the helicopter has been named after the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, who led the war on Egypt’s part. The first carrier was named after his predecessor, Gamal Abdel-Nasser.

Joint Egyptian and French naval training had been taking place for several days before the arrival of Anwar El-Sadat.

Despite widespread reports of human rights violations being carried out in the country by the military, in February 2015 France signed a $5.6 billion deal with Egypt under which the North African country would receive warplanes and missiles.

Egyptian authorities have said that an unstable Libya and threats of attacks from militants linked to Daesh in the Sinai means it is necessary to boost the country’s military presence.