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CENTCOM: US to sell F-15 jets to Egypt

“We have good news in that we’re going to provide them with F-15s, which was a long, hard slog,” says U.S. Central Command head Gen. Frank McKenzie.

Bunker-Buster Bombs
A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft releases a GBU-28 ”bunker buster” 5,000-pound laser-guided bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range. Credit: TSGT Michael Ammons, USAF via Wikimedia Commons.

Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the United States would likely provide Egypt with F-15 fighter jets.

“I think we have good news in that we’re going to provide them with F-15s, which was a long, hard slog,” he said, according to Reuters.

The Biden administration had cut $130 million in military aid to Egypt over human-rights concerns. Last month, McKenzie visited Cairo and mentioned “very robust” military assistance.

The withheld funds represent 10 percent of the $1.3 billion that the United States has earmarked for Egypt annually since 2017.

At the same time, according to Reuters, Washington approved a $2.5 billion defense-sales agreement for Egypt, which includes advanced air-defense radars and C-130 Super Hercules transport aircraft.

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