24 Dec 2021; MEMO: The Egyptian army will receive 16 IRIS-T SL medium-range air defence missile systems from the German Diehl Defence company as part of several arms deals approved by former Chancellor Angela Merkel before she left office.
On 16 December, Deutsche Welle reported that former Economy Minister Peter Altmaier had sent a letter about the deals on to Bundestag President Barbel Bas on 7 December, a day before new Chancellor Olaf Scholz was sworn in.
According to the report, the weapons deals disclosed in the letter include the delivery of three MEKO A-200 EN frigates to Egypt from Kiel-based Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, along with 16 air defence systems from Diehl Defence, which is located in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg.
The new batteries will join the Russian missile batteries currently used by the Egyptian army to intercept short and long-range missiles.
