Russia Slams U.S.’ ‘Aggressive Behaviour’ Towards Egypt as Defence Ties Strengthen

Following the first reports of Egypt’s decision to acquire Su-35 Flanker heavyweight air superiority fighters from Russia in March 2019, the United States notably threatened the African state with economic sanctions should it proceed with the acquisition. This came as part of a broader policy of sanctioning clients for high end Russian weapons systems adopted by the Donald Trump administration since 2017. The U.S. has notably denied Egypt access to high end fighters from a similar weight range for over 40 years since Cairo first showed interest in acquiring early variants of the F-15 Eagle - the American equivalent to the Flanker design. The U.S. has also denied Egypt access to modern classes of air to air missile for the lighter and cheaper fighters it has agreed to sell, although a change in government in Cairo in 2013 brought an end to Egyptian interest in American fighter aircraft.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper have notably reiterated threats to sanction Egypt over the Su-35 purchase, sending a letter to Egypt's Defence Minister promising sanctions should Cairo proceed to purchase the Russian hardware. In response to these threats, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed the American policy against clients for Russian arms. He stated: “We paid attention to the direct threats of U.S. officials to impose sanctions against Egypt for considering the possibility of acquiring Russian Su-35 fighters. This is very aggressive behaviour.” Egypt previously placed orders for 50 MiG-29M medium weight fighters, an older design under a contract estimated at similar value to the Su-35 purchase, and these were equipped with modern R-77 and R-27ER air to air missiles - currently the most capable missiles in Egyptian service. Followup offers for medium weight fighters, likely the MiG-35, are expected. It remains uncertain whether the contract to acquire Su-35 fighters will be include the sale of R-37M hypersonic air to air missiles, or whether the elite new jets will be give similar weapons to the preceding MiGs.