Egypt Agrees to Buy French Mistral Ships

France has agreed to sell two French Mistral helicopter carriers to Egypt. The warships were initially built for Russia, who paid about $1.7 billion for the vessels. In a statement, French President Francois Hollande announced that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi had agreed in principle to the terms of the purchase of the two Mistral ships.

Russia’s purchase was agreed to in 2011 but was canceled in September 2014 because of their involvement in the war in Ukraine, and France refunded the Russia’s payments. Under the original terms of the purchase, France would and sell Russia two warships while Russia would contract and build two more in Russia.

France, who did not pay any penalties for canceling Russia’s purchase, had no use for the two vessels because its navy already has three Mistral carriers in its fleet.