France and Egypt were poised today to sign a multi-billion-euro deal for the first foreign sale of the Rafale fighter jet, as Cairo bombed targets of the Islamic State jihadists in Libya.
French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was to travel to Cairo later today to ink the 5.2-billion-euro (USD 5.9 billion) deal for 24 Rafale fighters that Paris hopes will prompt others to snap up its premier combat jet.
The decapitation of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians in Libya, which prompted the air strikes earlier today, was an "additional reason for security" for Cairo, said Le Drian.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi "has a strategic need to ensure the security of the Suez canal, through which a large part of global trade passes," noted Le Drian..
"That is the main reason for the urgency to have both naval and aerial capabilities to ensure this security," he added.
The sale comes as welcome news to cash-strapped France, which is even diverting three jets away from its own airforce for the delivery due later this year.
French President Francois Hollande said the agreement -- clinched in only three months of negotiation -- provided Cairo with "a quality aircraft" and was important for Egypt "taking into account the threats existing around the country."
With Libya wracked by instability to the west and the threat from Islamic State-linked militants to the east, Egypt plays a key role in providing stability in a troubled region, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said yesterday.
In a joint statement released today, Hollande and Sisi called for a United Nations Security Council meeting on the threat from Libya and urged the international community to take "new measures," without specifying what they might be.
France is also hoping the deal will act as a catalyst to unblock hoped-for sales to other countries.
Eric Trappier, chief executive of Dassault Aviation, which manufactures the jet, has said he was "very confident" that three years of exclusive talks with India on the sale of 126 Rafale jets worth 12 billion euros would soon result in a deal.
He said talks were slow as Delhi wanted some of the jets manufactured at home in a bid to boost manufacturing, meaning that every nut and bolt had to be discussed.
