Egypt buys French Rafale fighter jets

Egypt will become the first foreign buyer of Rafale fighter jets, purchasing 24 of the multi-role French-made aircraft as part of a $5.9 billion defense deal, French officials said Thursday. Egypt, a decades-long American ally whose army receives up to $1.3 billion in military aid from Washington each year, has been seeking to diversify its arms providers. Its military remains largely U.S. trained and equipped, but Russian news agency Interfax said this week that Moscow has $3.5 billion in new contracts with Cairo for military aircraft, air defense missiles and other weapons.