US aerospace giant Lockheed Martin is to sell 24 F-16 jet fighters to Egypt in a 3.2 billion dollar deal, a company spokesman said Tuesday.
"We understand that the governments of the United States and Egypt have reached an agreement over a contract for military sale to provide 24 F-16s to Egypt," Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout told AFP.
The company hoped to get the contract signed "early next year," he said, adding that the 3.2 billion dollars "was the amount in the agreement between the two countries."
The F-16 is flown by 25 nations, according to the company. More than 4,400 aircraft have been delivered worldwide from assembly lines in five countries.
The latest Egyptian deal, to "supplement" the current fleet, had been in discussion for some time but was officially notified to the US Congress in October, Stout said.
The Egyptian Air Force is the fourth largest F-16 operator in the world, according to defense industry reports.
It began flying the F-16 in 1982, after years of using military equipment supplied by the former Soviet Union.
F-16 Fighting Falcon at Wikipedia
By: Brant
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