CAIRO (Sputnik) – The French and Egyptian navies launched naval and aviation exercises in the Mediterranean, the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Defense Ministry said Sunday.
The "Ramses-2016" drills would span several days and be held in Egypt’s territorial waters, the ministry’s representatives told reporters.
They noted that the FREMM Tahya Misr ("Long Live Egypt") multi-purpose frigate, which entered service with the Egyptian Navy in mid-2015, will take part in the joint exercises.
Paris and Cairo signed a contract in October 2015, paving way for Egypt to purchase two Mistral-class helicopter carriers originally built for Russia. The agreement was reached after Paris officially terminated the $1.3 billion deal with Moscow.
