Rewritten – June 2010
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1. Osprey Class Coastal Minehunter (MHC): In early May 2006, reporting indicated that the US formally offered two Osprey class coastal minehunters (MHC) to the Egyptian Navy (EN). Although not a done deal, in late 2005, US President Bush authorized to transfer certain vessels on a grant basis under section 516 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (USC2321j) and through sales transactions under section 21 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 USC2761), including two units of the Osprey class to Egypt. The two Ospreys were the USS Cardinal (MHC-60) and USS Raven (MHC-61). Both units were transferred on 07 January 2007 and re-commissioned into the Egyptian Navy (EN) as the Al Siddiq (521) and Al Farouk (524).
2. German Type 206A Submarine: Reporting in late 2004 and mid-2005 indicated that Germany was in negotiations with Egypt concerning the sale of two Type 206A class submarines. The German Navy took delivery of four Type 212A submarines in 2006 and is beginning to offer its fleet of Type 206s on the international market. Six additional Type 206s will begin decommissioning by the end of 2010.
The prospective German-Egyptian deal was initially announced by German Defense Minister Peter Struck in December 2004 as a step to deepen the defense cooperation between the two countries. As of this writing, there has been no forward momentum on this transfer since 2004 indicating an agreement will probably not be worked out. However, this is still a valid requirement and the sea service will continue to scour the international market for other options.
