Egypt’s Defence and Military Production Facility Ministry is expected to sign a contract for 24 fighter jets with French firm Dassault Rafale, according to French media reports.

Previous reports indicated that the contract under negotiation was for 12 Rafale jets.

In 2015, Cairo and Paris signed a $5.6bn deal for 24 warplanes as well as contracts for missiles and a multi-mission naval ship from French group Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS).

The last three of the initial 24 Rafale fighter jets were understood to have been delivered to the Egyptian Air Force in December last year.