U.S. REAFFIRMS ITS COMMITMENT TO SUPPLY EGYPT WITH APACHES
NEWTOWN, Conn. - The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to supply Egypt with 10 Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopters that have been withheld since the military took control of the country in July 2013.
With the U.S. government having indicated back in April that it would now deliver the helicopters, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel confirmed the decision during a meeting with Egyptian Minister of Defense Colonel General Sedki Sobhy, the US Department of Defense (DoD) on September 20.
On May 22, 2009, the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced an Foreign Military Sales (FMS) request by Egypt for Boeing AH-64D Block II Longbows at the cost of up to $820 million. Last year however, the U.S. government had rejected an appeal from the Egyptian government to rush deliver helicopters after Cairo said they were urgently needed for counterterrorism operations in the Sinai Peninsula.
These helicopters will be replete with Hellfire Longbow missile launchers, Lockheed Martin pilot night-vision sensors, infrared jammers, and APR-39B(V)2 radar signal detecting sets.