Egyptian fighter jet crashes, crew survives

CAIRO – 27 November 2022: Spokesperson of the Egyptian Armed Forces Gharib Abdel Hafez announced that a fighter jet crashed during training on Sunday because of a technical error, and that the pilot and co-pilot survived.

Similar incidents occurred in June, December 2019, and November 2018 where the pilots managed to eject. The cause of the crashes was also technical problems that were not detailed, and they all happened during training.

Egypt signed a contract with the French Dassault Aviation company to purchase 30 Rafale fighter jets, announced the Egyptian Armed Forces in a statement in May 2021.

The deal will be financed by a loan that will be repaid over 10 years, the statement said, adding that Egypt had signed a contract in 2015 with France to get 24 Rafale fighter jets for the Egyptian Air Force. The 24 Rafale aircrafts were part of a deal valued at 5.3 billion euros ($5.9 billion). Rafale was first introduced in the French Air Defense in 2006.

Reuters reported that the new deal is worth 3.75 billion euro ($4.5 billion).

The aircraft has a multi-sensor data fusion, and “has the potential to integrate a variety of current and future armaments.”

Rafale jets in Egypt took part in training activities, securing Egyptian vital areas, operations to combat terrorism, and aviation shows when inaugurating Mohamed Naguib airbase, the largest in MENA region.