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The photo released by Egypt's state-run news agency MENA shows French shipbuilding group DCNS' CEO Herve Guillou (L, front) signs a contract with Egyptian general Ahmed Khaled (R, front) with the presence of French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (L, 2nd Row) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (C, 2nd Row) in the Presidential Palace, Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 16, 2015. Egypt signed here on Monday a 5.2 billion-euro contract with France to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets and a naval vessel, official MENA news agency reported. (Xinhua/MENA)
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CAIRO, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egypt signed here on Monday a 5.2 billion-euro contract with France to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets and a naval vessel, official MENA news agency reported.
The deal signed by the Egyptian Defense Minister Sidqi Sobhy and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian is France's first agreement to export the home-made fighters which failed to conquer foreign markets due to high prices.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attended the signing ceremony.
Under the deal, which was first planned during al-Sisi's visit to France in November last year, France will supply Egypt with 24 Rafale fighter jets, a FREMM frigate and short and medium range MBDA missiles.
The Rafale, manufactured by French company Dassault Aviation, is a twin-engine delta-wing multi-role jet fighter that has only served in the French Navy and Air Force since it was introduced in 2000.
Three of the Rafale jets and the FREMM warship are expected to participate in the opening ceremony of the new Suez Canal project in August, according to MENA.
The agreement came a few hours after the Egyptian air forces conducted air strikes on Islamic State targets in Libya in revenge to the beheading of 21 Egyptians in the neighboring country Sunday.
The new deal will empower Egypt in its war against internal and regional terrorism that has so far caused the death of hundreds of Egyptians inside and outside its borders.
