United Arab Emirates buys 30 Mirage warplanes

An official military source said that the United Arab Emirates endorsed today a weapons deal with the French company Dassault Aviation valued at $3.2 billion to buy 30 Mirage 2000 warplanes.

In a private statement the source said the contract also includes the upgrading of 33 Mirage Five 2000 planes to raise their efficiency to reach that of the Mirage Nine.

French President Jacques Chirac preliminarily announced this agreement during his visit to the UAE at the beginning of the current year.