US to sell 24 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt

(PressTV) US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin has agreed to sell 24 F-16 fighter jets to Egypt in a deal worth $3.2 billion, a company spokesman says.

"We understand that the governments of the United States and Egypt have reached an agreement over a contract for military sale to provide 24 F-16s to Egypt," Lockheed Spokesman Joe Stout told AFP on Tuesday.

He said the company hoped to get the contract signed early next year, adding that the $3.2 billion "was the amount in agreement between the two countries."

According to the company, the F-16 is flown by 25 nations. More than 4,400 aircraft have been delivered worldwide from assembly lines in five countries.

The latest Egyptian deal, to "supplement" the current fleet, had been in discussion for some time, but was "officially notified to the US Congress in October," Stout said.

According to defense industry reports, the Egyptian Air Force is the fourth largest F-16 operator in the world.

In 1982, after years of using military equipment supplied by the former Soviet Union, Egypt began flying the F-16.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=114945&sectionid=351020502.