Egypt and the United States have started negotiations over a potential purchase for the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) of the new F-15EX Eagle II fighter bombers produced by Boeing.
Egypt is potentially interested in acquiring up to 46 aircraft
Conversations with the United States revolve around the equipment that these aircraft should receive if approval for the sale is granted. The United States is keen on selling these advanced fighters abroad, but at the same time, they don’t want to create a situation where Egypt gains an advantage over close ally Israel, which is set to receive twenty-five F-15EX (I) Eagle II with specific equipment for the Israeli Air Force. Therefore, they offered the Advanced Eagle version which, at the moment, seems to have been rejected by the Egyptians.
Moreover, any potential contract would necessarily have to go through foreign military sales (FMS) channels and, therefore, pre-approved by Congress.
The F-15 Advanced Eagle
It can be considered as the aircraft from which the current Eagle II (F-15EX) in production for the USAF and the IAF (in the described version above) was closely derived.
The Advanced Eagle has fathered the F-15SA and F-15QA variants currently in service in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
In addition to the aircraft, the Egyptian and American counterparts are negotiating the weapons package and the one related to the training of pilots and technicians, also with the help of advanced simulators.
The Advanced Eagles or the Eagle II would probably replace the MiG-29M/M2 which, although recently put into service, have caused more than one problem for the EAF.
Photo credit @@DVIDS/Master Sgt. Nancy Falcon
