The sale of € 17bn French military aircraft to the UAE strengthens Gulf alliance

France has secured a major foreign deal for its Rafale fighter jet with the United Arab Emirates as President Emmanuel Macron seeks to strengthen its ties with an important Middle East ally.

During a visit to Dubai on Friday ahead of talks in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Macron encouraged the sale of the ceremony with UAE Abu Dhabi leader Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan as part of the economic and security talks.

The € 17bn-merger agreement involves 80 Rafale jets and 12 Caracal helicopters manufactured by France and Airbus’ Dassault Aviation, in what Macron called “the largest military alliance in our history”. Dassault shares were up 9 percent on contract issues.

The agreement follows Rafale’s advice from Croatia, Greece and Egypt this year. Its value exceeds the share of the French Naval team in € 56bn shipping union which Canberra removed in September, according to the Ministry of Defense.

Relations between France and the UAE have strengthened in recent years as Macron and Sheikh Mohammed have agreed on a number of issues in the Middle East.

In Libya, the two countries have allied themselves with Khalifa Haftar, the ruler of most of the eastern part of the country. Both have had a strained relationship with Turkey and share deep distrust and concerns of Islamic groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

The UAE has also supported France’s efforts to combat jihadist groups in the Sahel sub-Saharan Africa with funding and by sending aid to the region.

The two leaders “reaffirmed their support for the elections and the removal of mercenaries from Libya,” the French president said, referring to the departure of foreign fighters who were part of the UN-sanctioned ceasefire agreement. Libya is holding the first round of presidential elections on December 24. Macron also called on the UAE to increase aid to Lebanon.

The Gulf country followed Saudi Arabia’s decision to remove its ambassador from Beirut in October, clearly in response to comments made by the Lebanese prime minister under the auspices of Saudi Arabia during the war in Yemen, as well as his influence over Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian party. political party and terrorists. On Friday, George Kordahi, the Lebanese minister in the middle of the dispute, said he had resigned after France asked him to step down to give Macron a chance to resume relations between Lebanon and the Gulf.

Abu Dhabi is a long-time customer of France’s Dassault – bought the Mirage 2000 fighter jets – and France became one of the longest-serving security partners in the UAE alongside the US.

The Rafale deal follows a decade of negotiations, and it comes as the UAE’s attempt to acquire US-made F-35 aircraft, which allied with Trump officials, has been highlighted in Washington. The Biden government has expressed concern over the F35 deal over complaints about Abu Dhabi’s use of Huawei’s 5G telecommunication network and the threat of technology transfer to China.

“France has proven itself to be a keen ally of security and safety in the United Arab Emirates, as well as in other Arab countries,” said Charles Forrester, a security analyst for Janes. He also said that the flexibility of French manufacturers to allow consumers such as the UAE to combine home-made aircraft with aircraft made their offerings more attractive and gave the Gulf country greater security on its products.

Rafale’s actions did not go unnoticed, including after Macron said he would not make Egyptian law in line with human rights demands, because he did not want to undermine efforts to combat Islamist terrorism in the region.

Human rights activists have criticized Egypt’s arms deal, saying France is only supporting the regime of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has led a genocide.

Human Rights Watch has also criticized the UAE because the country has been a member of the Arab League led by Saudi Arabia against the Houthi-backed Houthi terrorists in Yemen. The UAE withdrew most of its troops from Yemen in 2019.

Macron said it was a “strong defense” alliance that would strengthen French companies and businesses. He said France had a role to play in the Middle East with “border control”.

“We will not be able to help Lebanon, help Iraq, we will not be able to do anything to fight terrorism in the region…

Macron is backing an effort to end a peace deal between Yemeni and Saudi Arabia.

Additional reports of Samer Al-Atrush in Riyadh