World

Billions In U.S. Arms To Egypt

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 11, 1999 / 9:41 AM EST / CBS

The United States on Thursday proposed to sell Egypt $3.2 billion worth of new American weapons, including 24 F-16 fighter jets, 200 M-1A1 tanks and 32 Patriot missiles.

U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen announced the proposition, which is likely to be approved by Congress, after separate talks with President Hosni Mubarak and Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi in Cairo.

It was the latest of several arms offers by Cohen to U.S. Arab allies on a nine-nation trip to the Gulf and Middle East.

The 24 F-16 fighters, made by Lockheed Martin, would cost $1.2 billion and would increase a force of 196 F-16s already in Egypt's airforce.

The battery of Patriot-3 missiles, which would cost $1.3 billion, consists of eight firing units, each containing four missiles, made by Raytheon.

The 200 tanks, costing nearly $700 million, would be assembled in Egypt and add to 555 such tanks it already has.

Cohen told reporters travelling with him that Egypt would "feel insulted" if its request for the weapons were denied and might then turn to other arms suppliers.

"If they were to make a request to the United States and we were to say, 'I'm sorry, we are not going to provide you with any modernized equipment,' I think they would take that as an insult," Cohen said.

"There are many potential (arms) suppliers -- Russian, Chinese, French, British and others -- that seek to fulfill their requests. I think that they would look very skeptically upon our friendship and very strong partnership if we were to say 'I'm sorry, we have made a decision that is superior to your decision. You don't need this and you shouldn't have it'."

Cohen said the United States believed that a strong military relationship supported a strong political and diplomatic relationship that builds peace and stability in the region.

Egypt, one of Washington's strongest allies in the Arab world, would receive the "Block 40" model of the F-16, the most advanced version of the world's most popular attack jet.

Cohen said Egypt would pay for the arms from the $1.2 billion a year it gets in U.S. military aid. The Pentagon approved the sales in principle but no deal has been signed.

The United States has in the past sold Cairo a wide range of weaponry, including surplus naval destroyers.

Cohen, who flew later to Israel for talks on regional security issues on the final stop of a busy trip, earlier offered "AMRAAM" advanced medium- range air-to-air missiles to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates is currently planning to buy 80 of the earlier "Block 60" F-16s for $6 billion and a package of AMRAAM and other air-to-air missiles for another $2 billion.

At an earlier news conference in Cairo, Cohen denied that the U.S. was fuelling an arms race in the Middle East, but said Washington remained ready to help its allies in the region in response to legitimat requests for military modernization.

"We are, of course, eager to be of assistance," he said.

Officials said after the announcement that the exact purchase prices and the timing of delivery are still being worked out.