These are all good questions.. we should know about them in the near future.. as for now we only know that the second Rafale deal is stuck with France because of some US components..And the deal for the mistral equipments and the Katran helicopters is still going on..As for the airforce.. Egypt should consider making its own version of the Chinese-Pakistani FC-1/JF-17 in big numbers to replace the old platforms..The 500 T-90MS is just a start, I guess at least a thousand will be made in Egypt..Another Fremm will certainly come in the future _that is just logical_ and 2 additional Gowind..I think Egypt has started to rethink seriously about local production and ToT..because these new economic reforms will make Egypt much more independent than before..IMO by 2020 we should see a lot of new military deals.. the money will be there and the negotiating position will be much stronger..
But... I never hear any news about FREMM or any other frigates deals... Also, even if Egypt considered purchasing 3 or 4 FREMMs, I am not sure if France would be willing to give us the technology to produce a considerable percentage of the FREMM... or, I don't know, may be they will let us assemble the parts together, while also building some of the ship body.
No... The deal is supposed to be already signed, we will get those additional Rafales, even if without the French missilies, although I have read that the Egyptian Minister of defence has said that the problem of the American component of the French missile is "the french problem, not ours"
Yes... certainly... we should really invest heavily in the JF-17, including a complete TOT deal with a big number of jet fighters. And we should even do the same with other aircraft, like the Korean Lite-Fighter and trainer t-50, or Russian YAK, or Czech Super Albatross, or the Indian HAL Tejas (If it is worth investing in and purchasing, cause I have read in another forum that it has problems)
Also... I think that it won't be really wrong or unpractical if we buy some used Russian\Chineese\Indian MIGs and SUs and TUs, and may be even F-5 and Mirage 5 (of course, if they can be modernized and age-extended without spending a lot of money)... I know it's totally naive to say this, but a large (or, preferably, A HUGE) number of 70's third generation aircrafts, along with a considerable number of 4th and 4th+ and 4th++, can prove efficient, even if in a war against a strong and technologically advanced military... You should get as many advanced aircrafts (and weapones in general) to match the new and advanced enemy weaponry... But, modernized-yet-outdated and less-capability jets\ships\tanks\etc... can, at least, take a big portion of the enemy air defence or any other missiles, which should significantly lower the danger and damage that Advanced and strongest weapones undertake... Again, my opinion will probably seem naive for most people (which can be understood, since I am no professional or expert, and never joined the armed forces), but I think that number\quantity still matters, even in lower\weaker weapones.
What I wish to hear in the near future (the coming 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 years), is:
- More advanced aircrafts (French Rafale and Mirage 2000, Russian MIG-29M, and SU-35, and more\higher-block F-16's)
- NOT Retiring the active MIGs and Mirage-5 and F-5.
-More fast and maneuverable (even if old) aircrafts (Like MIG-25)
- TOT of equipment in all the fields (Land, Navy,air)... JF-17 is a good example, and a perfect start.
- Much more attack Helicopters.
- More and more modern tanks (American, Russian, and any other that may be a good fit), with upgrading as much as possible of the Abrams and M-60's, and modernizing Russian T's)
- Navy: More technologically-advanced and capable big\and\strong ships: French FREMM, German MEKO, alomg with other Western\Russian\Chineese\Korean Destroyers\Frigates\Corvettes.
- As much as possible Fast Attack Crafts and light\heavy patrol crafts... also, Mine Warfare\Auxiliary\Landing crafts\ tankers\ and any other type that may be considered weak or less than the adequate number needed.
- And, ofcourse... more submarines... may be a couple more of German or French subs, along with a bigger number of Russian and\or Chinese ones (A big number of small-to-medium Chinese subs, along with partial TOT, would be a fair deal, I guess)... Also, we should consider acquiring midget subs (also with TOT)
- I think air defence is doing good enough, but a S-400 would be a great addition... And I think we can say the same about artillery.
- UAVs purchasing and locally-producing is going well, I guess... But let's just keep it up and try to get more
- Locally producing and purchasing more APC\IFV and MRAP and HUMVEEs.
Well that's it... sorry for such a long post, that is filled with questions and wishes !!!!!
@Gomig-21
