Pilots walk past an Egyptian Rafale fighter jet (Image: Egypt Independent)

The French Dassault is expected to receive an additional order of 12 Rafale fighter jets from Egypt during the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron later this week.

Between Paris and Cairo, there is a real convergence on the Rafale issue to the point that it is increasingly possible that an announcement for the sale of twelve additional Rafale intervenes during the visit of Emmanuel Macron in Egypt (27 -29 January), La Tribune reported Wednesday.

Egypt has been facing opposition from the French Treasury to obtain the same favourable financial package it obtained for the original order, but President Emmanuel Macron is said to have intervened to ensure that the Egyptian purchase goes through.

In February 2015, France agreed to deliver 24 Rafale fighter jets to Egypt at a cost of € 5.2 billion (US$5.9 billion) (including a FREMM multipurpose frigate and a supply of missiles).

Egypt received the third batch of three Rafale fighter jets flown solely by Egyptian pilots from France in April 2017. This marked the joining of the single-seat model (Rafale EM) to the Egyptian Air Force. Egypt took delivery of the fourth batch of two Rafale EM fighter jets in July 2017.

In June 2016, Egypt started negotiations with Dassault to acquire 12 additional Rafales which was an option on the original contract. An Egyptian delegation visited France in November 2017 to move negotiations forward, with a deal for the additional dozen possible before year-end.