Egypt Deploys Rafale Fighters to Abu Dhabi to Reinforce UAE, U.S. and France Against Iranian Strikes

The Egyptian Air Force has deployed Rafale fighter aircraft to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi visiting the country and inspecting the fighters alongside UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The Egyptian Air Force has seldom in its history stationed fighter aircraft beyond its borders, with the confirmation of the aircraft’s presence being given just hours after new rounds of Iranian-UAE hostilities saw strikes launched successfully against targets across the Arab Gulf country. While the UAE Air Force currently relies on F-16E/F and Mirage 2000-5 fighters to form the backbone of its fleet, with the Rafales it has ordered having yet to be delivered, the French Air Force has deployed its own Rafale fighters for air defence duties in the country. 

Both Egypt and France are heavily reliant on the United Arab Emirates for their economic wellbeing, the former due to investment and remittances from Egyptian workers, and the latter due in large part to investment and orders for military equipment. France’s economic reliance on the UAE has grown since the country faced significant setbacks to its influence in West Africa in the early 2020s. Abu Dhabi has aligned itself closely with the United States and Israel in their war effort against Iran, leading it to be targeted extensively from February 28 after the start of a U.S.-led assault on Iranian targets. Despite significant deployments of U.S. and French assets to the country for air defence duties, damage to the UAE’s economy has been catastrophic, while losses of military assets to Iranian missile and drone strikes has been significant. 

The deployment of Egyptian Rafale fighters is expected to be primarily symbolic, with fighter aircraft from multiple countries already heavily concentrated on UAE territory, but lacking the ability to shoot down ballistic missiles or to provide an efficient defence against single use drone attacks. Nevertheless, with French and UAE air units reported to be facing shortages of air-to-air missiles, the presence of Egyptian Rafales may also pave the way to Egypt sharing its associated air-to-air missile stockpiles to equip the two countries’ own fighters. A more significant contribution, however, would be the deployment of AH-64 Apache or Ka-52 attack helicopters for air defence duties against drone attacks, or of Russian-origin S-300VM long range air defence systems for ballistic missile defence. The possibility of a further expansion of the Egyptian military presence remains significant.