Politics
08:29, 29-Jul-2017
Egyptian army receives latest batch of French fighter jets
[]
Share
Copied
By CGTN's Jerry Owilli
Egypt this week added two new French Dassualt Rafale fighter jets to its airforce.
This is the fourth batch of fighter jets that the North African nation has received since it signed a five-billion-euro (5.88 billion US dollars) arms deal with France in February 2015.
Egypt’s air fleet now includes 11 operational Rafales.
The Egyptian military has been using these warplanes to secure its airspace, but more importantly to fight terrorism.
The Egyptian air force is the prime defending force in securing the western border with Libya.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. /Reuters Photo
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. /Reuters Photo
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that vehicles breaching the borders are spotted and usually stopped every day.
Egypt has also conducted airstrikes inside Libya. The Rafales are the most likely warplanes to be used to reach such long range targets.
The North African nation, the first in the world to receive the new Dassault Rafale fighter jets, is awaiting delivery of 13 more of the French warplanes.
7540km