Kuwait, France in $2.8bn defense deal

PARIS: Kuwait signed 2.5 billion euros ($2.8bn) worth of military fixed and provisional deals led by the purchase of 24 Airbus-built Caracal helicopters, the French government said Wednesday.
Paris said Kuwait would purchase 24 helicopters for a billion euros with an option for a further six.
The Caracal, which is deployed on combat rescue missions and long-distance troop transport, is fitted out with radar missile protection, while its weaponry includes air-to-ground and air-to-sea missiles.
The agreements came a month after Kuwait agreed to buy 28 Typhoon combat warplanes from the Eurofighter consortium. Kuwait is looking to upgrade its firepower amid increased security concerns in the region linked to the rise of the Daesh group.
Further deals included provision of French light armored vehicles and patrol boat maintenance.
A source familiar with the negotiations indicated that the patrol boats would include the revamping of eight P37 craft that France sold to Kuwait after Iraq’s 1990 invasion that sparked the first Gulf War in 1991.
After the conflict the two countries signed a defense agreement and today Kuwaiti’s military hierarchy is largely French-trained.
The French Defense Ministry has yet to confirm whether Paris will ultimately also supply new vessels.
Wednesday’s accords were signed by a slew of ministers including French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Finance Minister Emmanuel Macron in the presence of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
Kuwait also indicated readiness to create a 450 million euro fund to invest in French small and medium-sized technology and health firms, a French government source said, in cooperation with BPIFrance, a public sector body dedicated to investment.
France said it will meanwhile build a 100 million euro oncology center in Kuwait.