France to supply warplanes, ships to Egypt under $1 billion arms deal

French President Francois Hollande announced Sunday in Cairo, following a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, that his country will supply warplanes and naval ships to Egypt under an arms deal worth about $1 billion. Cairo has been diversifying its suppliers of arms in recent years at the expense of the US that had been the main supplier of weapons to the Egyptian army and air force until 2013.
France is currently in the final stages of selling 24 Rafale fighters to Qatar as part of an arms deal worth several billion dollars, and is also in an advanced stage of negotiations with the UAE for the sale of Rafale warplanes.