PARIS // France has announced that it will sell 24 Rafale fighter jets to Qatar in a 6.3 billion euro (Dh25.8bn) deal.
The agreement is to be signed in Doha on Monday in the presence of the French president, Francois Hollande, presidency services said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the French defence ministry said that delivery of the jets would start in mind-2018 at a rate of 11 per year.
French arms exports now exceed 15 billion euros this year.
Qatar becomes the third buyer of France’s delta-winged Rafale, manufactured by Dassault Aviation.
India announced plans to buy 36 Rafale jets earlier this month and Egypt bought 24 of them in February.
“It’s almost 100 Rafale that are going to be delivered within the next few years”, Mr Hollande said during a visit in the city of Brest, in the west of France. “That makes a lot of work, a lot of jobs, a lot of economic benefits”.
Mr Hollande is also due to visit Saudi Arabia next week. He will be the guest of honour at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh, where security issues in the region are going to be discussed.
* Associated Press with additional reporting by Reuters
