Russia will supply more than 50 MiG-29 fighter jets to Egypt under a contract that has been already signed and the deliveries are already underway, Russian presidential aide for military and technical cooperation Vladimir Kozhin told TASS this week.
A long time has passed since Egypt, in 1955, agreed to buy heavy arms from Soviet-dominated Czechoslovakia, which included an estimated 100 Russian-made MiG-15 fighters. It launched two decades during which the Soviets basically owned Egypt, ending in July 1972, when the Egyptian government expelled its Soviet military advisers, following suit in March 1976 when Egypt abrogated the friendship treaty with the Russians, and in 1981, when relations between the two countries were severed as a result of Soviet opposition to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.
“Yes, the contract has been signed and the deliveries have started, some fighter jets have been already sent to Egypt,” Kozhin said, most likely aware that the history of the north African country has shifted once again. “Given the number of aircraft – that’s around five dozens – the supplies are expected to take several years.”
“Everything will also depend on the capacity of [Russian] plants, which have a full load of work on these aircraft. But I’m sure that we will meet the deadline on fulfilling our obligations under the contract,” Kozhin said.
Earlier media reports cited sources saying that the Russia–Egypt contract determined delivery of the MiG-29 fighter jets by 2020.
The Mikoyan MiG-29 is not likely to affect the balance of power between Egypt and Israel. It is a twin-engine jet fighter designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Sukhoi Su-27, was developed to counter new American fighters such as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The MiG-29 entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1982.