Egypt receives third batch of Rafale fighters from France

Egypt received on Tuesday the third batch of Rafale fighters, comprising three fighter jets, following the completion of the aviation tests in France last week. This brings up the number of fighter jets received by the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) of this model to 9 fighter jets out of 24.

Egypt is scheduled to receive five more Rafale fighters by the end of this year, which will uplift the number of the received French fighter jets to 14. The remaining 10 fighters are planned to be dispatched to Egypt over the next two years.

In March, the French company Dassault Aviation announced in a press conference about its plans for the financial year 2017-18, which included handing 8 Rafale fighters to Egypt this year.

In 2015, Egypt successfully concluded ‎a purchase of 24 French-made Rafale fighters. The first three Dassault Aviation-built Rafale fighter jets were received by the Egyptian army in July 2015, while the second batch, three other fighter jets, was received in January 2016.

France currently tops the list of countries which signed military supply agreements with Egypt during the two-year tenure of President Abdel-‎Fattah Al-Sisi.