reports suggest that if negotiations proceed at this pace an announcement could be made before the
end of this year french media also reported that president emmanuel macron will visit abu dhabi on
december 2 followed by visits to doha qatar and riyadh saudi arabia on december 3rd and 4th the
deal may be announced during his visit boosting his image significantly before the end of his
five-year term however no official announcement has been made by the french government yet
since 2009 the uae has shown interest in the rebel f4 standard the fact that this claim came
so soon after the u.s confirmed its willingness to continue selling f-35 fighter jets to the uae
with additional obligations before and after delivery is surprising
the visit of uae crown prince sheikh mohammed bin zayed al-nahyan to france in september has
linked the emirati french efforts to forge a new alliance to fill the gaffe purportedly
left by washington's disengagement from the arabian gulf region there is a sense of waning
america's commitment to gulf security since the beginning of president joe biden's administration
this was prompted by moves by the united states to reduce its military presence in the region
including the withdrawal of the patriot air defence missile
system and restrictions on arms sales to saudi arabia and the united arab emirates
according to arab weekly sheikh mohammed can count on his special relationship with macron
as well as the uae significant investment in france to seal the deal for the rifle fighter
jet this will be part of a larger amerity effort to diversify its sourcing of weapons since 2009
the uae and france have discussed the procurement of 60 rifle fighters in terms of franco gulf
trade the uae has also become an important strategic partner for france in the middle east
second only to saudi arabia in the war on terror the two countries maintain a strong partnership
in addition egypt signed a 3.75 billion euros 4.5 billion dollars contract to buy 30 rifle fighter
jets in may and this is expected to further encourage the uae to buy rifle fighter jets
prior to this macron had advocated arms sales to the gulf states he named riyadh and abu dhabi as
allies in the fight against terrorism stressing that paris had obtained assurances that these
countries would not use these weapons against civilians it is possible that the uae will buy the
f-35 and rifle fighter jets but there are subtle differences between the two while the rifle would
give them more operational autonomy the american platform would come with certain preconditions
the ripple could also be an excellent replacement for the uae's mirage 2000 fighter