More UAE arms deals with France

France, the largest weapons supplier for the United Arab Emirates, seeks to sign contracts to modernize the UAE's naval forces during the few coming years at a cost of US $1.7 billion.

AFP quoted the general representative of the French government for armament affairs, Jan Yves Helmer, who represented France at the inauguration of the International Defense Exposition, Idex 99, in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as saying, "We are working to expand our cooperation and industrial partnership to include naval programs which the UAE wants to carry out for strengthen its naval force."

These programs are the focal interest by the French ships industry board, Thompson CSF companies, and the Normandy mechanical industries companies. All these French companies are competing with similar German and US companies over supplying the UAE with several frigates, gunships and means of modernizing weapons systems for two frigates already in use, which the UAE bought in 1997.

The UAE also intends to buy a used submarine, for which it received bids from France and Germany.

The UAE is considered the second client for the French defense industries, following Saudi Arabia. In 1998, the UAE had two thirds of weapons contracts in France, estimated at a cost of 50 billion French francs (US $8.3 billion).