Egypt to Buy More Rafale Fighter Jets

05/05/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris – France welcomed May 4 an Egyptian announcement of an order for a further 30 Rafale fighter jets and weapons from Dassault Aviation, MBDA and Safran, confirming a news report on Disclose, a French campaigning website. “The armed forces minister, Florence Parly, welcomes the latest export…

An RAF Update: April 2021

05/03/2021
In a UK Ministry of Defence story published on April 8, 2021, recent operations in Iraq by the RAF were highlighted. A Daesh stronghold in northern Iraq has been cleared as part of Operation Shader, the Ministry of Defence has announced today. The RAF has carried out a series of…

Sherpa Pursues Alleged Corruption Inquiry Into Indian Rafale Acquisition

04/30/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris – Sherpa, a French non-governmental organization, said it filed April 28 a request for a judicial inquiry into alleged corruption on India’s acquisition of 36 Rafale fighter jets in a deal worth €7.8 billion ($9.4 billion). “Sherpa, represented by its lawyers William Bourdon and Vincent Brenghart,…

SofaGate: EU-Turkish Relations

04/27/2021
By William Gourlay It’s said that politics makes for strange bedfellows. In diplomacy, it would seem that it’s seating arrangements that can be tricky. At a 6 April meeting of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council head Charles Michel with Turkey’sfamously combative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan,…