Egypt is set to receive its second Mistral-class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) warship from France on Friday, state owned news agency MENA reported.

According to MENA, the Egyptian navy chief Osama Rabie arrived in France leading a senior Egyptian military delegation to attend the inauguration of the LHD named after the late Egyptian president Anwar El-Sadat.

The agency added that Rabie would raise the Egyptian flag on the helicopter carrier in the Saint-Nazaire harbour located in western France with the attendance of France’s marine chief Admiral Christophe Prazuck and a number of military leaders from both sides as well as representatives for the Mistral manufacturers DCNS.

Bilateral talks will also be held between the Egyptian navy commander and his French counterpart to discuss ways of boosting bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual interest in the MENA region.

This is the second carrier that Egypt is set to receive only three months after it welcomed the first Mistral helicopter dock -- named after late President Gamal Abdel-Nasser -- in June in Alexandria coming from the French city Toulouse.

The contract for the two Mistral carriers, which was finalised in September last year, was valued at 950 million Euros, according to AFP.

The Mistral deal is part of several defence contracts Egypt signed with France, with the European countrynow topping the list of countries to have signed military supply agreements with Egypt during the term of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.



https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/244018.aspx