Egypt signs $2bn deal for 20 Russian fighter jets March 19, 2019 at 3:40 am | Published in: Africa , Asia & Americas , China , Egypt , Europe & Russia , France , News , Russia A Russian Sukhoi Su-35 bomber lands at the Russian Hmeimim military base in Latakia province, in the northwest of Syria on May 4, 2016. Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 after anti-government protests were put down. Fighting quickly escalated into a multi-faceted war that has killed more than 270,000 people and forced millions from their homes. / AFP / Vasily Maximov / MOY (Photo credit should read VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images) March 19, 2019 at 3:40 am Egypt has signed a $2 billion deal with Russia to buy more than 20 Sukhoi SU-35 multi-role fighter jets, Russia’s daily Kommersant reported yesterday.

The contract, which was signed at the end of 2018, would see Russia supply “more than 20” of the aircraft, along with weapons for the planes, to Egypt in 2020-2021.

Following the agreement, Egypt becomes the third foreign country to buy Russia’s Sukhoi SU-35 aircrafts after China, which has purchased 24 of the Russian planes. Indonesia recently agreed to buy 11 fighter jets of the same model from Egypt.

Read: Ex-official: Netanyahu approved sale of German submarines to Egypt

The SU-35 aircraft is a fourth-generation multi-function fighter that is being produced by Russia’s IRKUT Corporation. Its first batch was supplied to the Russian air force in 2014.

Egypt is one of the biggest buyers of Russian weapons and military equipment. In 2014, Russia and Egypt signed a number of agreements to supply Cairo with various air defence systems and $3.5 billion artillery and firearm weapons.

Moreover, in October 2015, Egypt bought the French-made Mistral helicopter carriers, which were originally made for Russia, but the deal was cancelled by the former French president Francois Hollande in 2014 over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

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