France, UAE Inks Huge Arms Agreement for 80 Jets After Australia Backed Out From Earlier Deal

Recently France and the UAE inked a huge arms agreement after the AUKUS deal deprived Paris of a mega deal. But, the agreement with the United Arab Emirates for modern fighter jets made up for the earlier agreement.

French President Emmanuel Macron included in the deal worth £14bn to supply the Persian Gulf kingdom with 80 Rafale attack jets. It redeemed his earlier loss of delivering diesel-electric submarines to Australia co-opted by the United States.

Earlier, Paris scored a deal for naval ships with Greece, while the US lost a bid to sell F/A-18 Hornets to Canada. Also, the US, UK, and Australia were put on the hot seat on how the AUKUS went down.

France gets a huge arms deal with UAE

The French leader signed the arms deal during a two-day trip to the Persian Gulf on his scheduled visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, reported Express UK.

It was signed and sealed by both parties, and it was one of the biggest sales of Rafale fighter last Friday. The French suffered a considerable loss after Joe Biden went ahead selling nuclear submarine technology to Australia behind Macron's back.

Paris issued a statement citing the contract as a strategic partnership that will improve peace in the Persian Gulf, threatened by Iran, mention Iran International.

Both President Macron and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan had the inking of the agreement in the fringes of the Dubai 2020 Expo.

The French leader's state visit is timed as the Biden administration is ambiguous about the Middle East.

Paris filled the void for the need for arms to which the US is not seemingly responsive. France and the UAE inks arms agreement that discounts the UAE is unwilling to comply with Washington's demand to decouple from China.

Mr. Macron has gotten a good rapport with Bin Zayed and trade between the two countries.

Increased Rafale production

Manufacture of 80 jets will support 7,000 jobs in France made by Dassault Aviation until 2031, said a French source about the deal.

This marks the nth deal with the UAE, which follows an arms deal with Greece, Egypt, and Croatia in 2021, all contributing to the building of the 4.5th generation jets.

The sale of the planes in Dassault Aviation SA caused an uptick of 9 percent in shares. Expected in 2027 are the F4 variant Rafales under development for now.

Qatar bought 36 of the fighters before the UAE bout the 80-strong squadron after they heard of the deal done by their rival.

Negotiations for the Rafale all-purpose fighter took a decade to conclude, which Abu Dhabi in 2011 had ignored an offer for 60 jets. The Persian country had Mirage 2000 planes in their air force during that time, noted NDTV.

Sources state the Mirage 2000 fleet will be replaced by the Rafales, although the F-35 Lightning II from the USA is still irreplaceable. The Emirates depends on France and the US as its arms suppliers.

The Biden administration wants the UAE to drop its link to China that delays approval for F-35s and the choice of the kingdom of Huawei 5G technology. This hastened the jet deal that is a sign the country does not care for Washington's interference.

France and the UAE inking arms agreement is a success of Macron in getting back a massive deal from the United States that is losing traction internationally.

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United Arab Emirates