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Frenchies offer Soddies LeClerc at below cost
Such a deal!France has offered its Leclerc tank to Saudi Arabia at below cost as part of a last-ditch effort to save the main battle tank project. Industry sources said the government in Paris has decided to violate a directive to the state-owned defense industry and offer Riyad 150 Leclercs at $3.4 billion. The sources said the price was below that of the cut-rate Leclerc deal reached with the United Arab Emirates in 1993. The French offer was discussed by President Jacques Chirac during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in June at the G-8 summit in Evian, France. So far, Riyad has not accepted the offer. The Leclerc is manufactured by the state-owned Giat Industries and the negotiations for the tank have been conducted by the official French armaments agency Societe Francaise d'Exportation de Materiels Avances, or SOFRESA. Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-10-12 |
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