UAE buys 80 Rafale fighter jets from France

The United Arab Emirates(UAE) will purchase 80 Rafale fighter jets from France. Both the countries have signed an agreement. France announced the signing Friday of a 16 billion-euro (USD 18 billion) armaments mega-contract for the sale of 80 of its upgraded Rafale warplanes to the UAE. The French Defense Ministry said the deal was France's largest-ever weapons contract for export. It came as French President Emmanuel Macron is in the Emirates on the first stop of a two-day visit to the Persian Gulf. 

Macron and Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, were present at the contract signing, it said.Manufacturer Dassault Aviation said the UAE is buying the upgraded F4 version of its multi-role combat aircraft. That will make the Emirates Air Force the first Rafale F4 user outside of France, it said. The deal offers a shot in the arm for France's defense industry after the collapse of a $66 billion contract for Australia to buy 12 French submarines. Dassault Aviation chief Eric Trappier called the sale “a French success story" and “excellent news for France and for its aeronautical industry.” Dassault said the Rafale will give the UAE "a tool capable of guaranteeing sovereignty and operational independence." The UAE and France have also become increasingly aligned over a shared mistrust of Islamist political parties across the Middle East, and backed the same side in Libya's civil strife.