Russia and Egypt are currently negotiating to outfit two new Mistral-class warships Cairo received this year with modern equipment and electronic warfare systems, Russian news agency TASS said on Thursday. "The Russian Federation has offered Egypt a wide range of equipment and military hardware to mount on the Mistral helicopter carriers," presidential aide for military and technical cooperation Vladimir Kozhin told TASS. "Apart from helicopters, these are modern armament and electronic warfare systems, navigational and auxiliary equipment and communications means," Kozhin said. Moscow says its experts have presented recommendations to Cairo, including necessary preparations to install the armaments. "The negotiations on approving technical and commercial components are continuing," the Russian official added. In June and September, Egypt received two French Mistral-class helicopter carriers from France, part of a $1 billion deal signed last year. The two ships were originally built for sale to Russia, but the sale was canceled over the Ukraine crisis. Source: Ahram Online
