Egypt's first French-made warship arrives in Alexandria

The first of two French-made Mistral warships sold to Egypt as per a previous contract arrived on Thursday in the coast of Egypt's seaside province of Alexandria and joined the conclusion of a joint Egyptian-French naval training that continued for several days ahead of its arrival, the Egyptian military spokesman said in a statement.

The helicopter carrier, the first in the Egyptian naval forces, is named after Egypt's late leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser and it is one of two French-made warships sold to the Arab country after France canceled their sale to Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. The second will be named after Nasser's successor Anwar al-Sadat.

The ship set off from France's Saint-Nazaire shipyard 11 days before its arrival in Alexandria.

Egypt seeks to develop its military capabilities amid the ongoing turmoil in Middle East and growing conflicts in fellow Arab states including Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and South Sudan.

Military experts say "Gamal Abdel-Nasser" warship is expected to add a strategic advantage to Egypt, provide security to its Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea shores as well as the Suez Canal vital waterway, and enable the country to have a movable complete unit of armed forces.

The Mistral carrier, which is 199 meters long and 32 meters wide, can carry from 16 to 22 helicopters and up to 13 tanks, load up to 22,000 tons, work as a field hospital and run at 19 knots.

Egypt had already received six new Rafale warplanes and a FREMM multi-mission frigate from France as part of a 5.6-billion-dollar deal signed between Cairo and Paris in February 2015 including 24 Rafale fighter jets and the frigate. Endit