The two carriers are each capable of carrying 16 helicopters, four landing craft and 13 tanks.
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In the past four days, we’ve also seen how “special” it is in replenishing France’s coffers, after Paris signed a lucrative deal with Cairo on Saturday for the sale of two Mistral warships originally intended for Russian Federation – before that deal fell through.
Egypt emerged as France’s replacement customer for the Mistrals in September 2015, after Paris and Moscow had formally terminated a 2011 deal on the construction and delivery of the two ships.
Valls was to be received by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi before going into a meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sharif Ismail. The West blames Moscow for the deadly conflict in eastern Ukraine.
According to French government sources, Egypt is to pay 950 million euros ($1 billion) for the warships, with “significant” financing from Saudi Arabia.
In February of this year, Egypt bought 22 Rafael fighter jets from France, becoming the first foreign purchaser of the French warplane.
The contract illustrates the rapprochement Paris has had with the regime of former army chief Sisi, who ousted elected Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013 and has since cracked down on his supporters and on all opposition.
The crisis in Syria and Russia’s military intervention, as well as escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence, are set to figure high on the French prime minister’s agenda.
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Manuel Valls arrived in Egypt late on Friday, accompanied by 63 diplomats and journalists, the reports said, adding that the visit is expected to involve other deals, mostly economic ones.
