On Wednesday (18 December) reports from Cairo indicated that Egypt has stated to replace some of the 120 'planes she lost in the October 173 war with Israel.

It was reported that six French Miragas had landed in Egypt to stay, though they were part of an order for 36 Mirages destined for Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia is Egypt's biggest backer in arms purchases and King Faisal's Financial Adviser, Mr. Kamal Adham, visits Cairo whenever weapons deals are under discussion.

French officials said in Paris on Wednesday that they were aware that the Mirages sold to Saudi Arabia had been transferred to the Egyptian Air Force. The French Government has dropped a clause banning the "re-export" of arms to third world countries since the lifting of France's seven-year embarge on weapons to the Middle East and Egypt is also reported to have received Mirage jets from Libya and Kuwait.

The French Air Force recently released film of their latest Mirage F 1 fighter aircraft on trial from the Rheims Air Base. This plane is equipped with the most up-to-date technological hardware, including the air-to-air Matra Super 530 missile.

It is the Mirage that spearheads the vast French arms export programme and versions of this jet are now in service in Switzerland, South America, South Africa and Australia. Additionally, the supersonic strike jet is currently a strong contender for the standard NATO fighter replacement.

This is a major multi-million pound sterling order to replace the ageing American-built F104 Starfighter jets in the Air Forces of West Germany, Holland, Belgium, Denmark and Norway. The French jet is now in major competition with two similar sophisticated American models.