France and Saudi Arabia have reached a tentative agreement providing for the sale of the French-made Crotale (rattlesnake) ground-to-air missile to Saudi Arabia. The agreement was reportedly reached last week during the four-day visit to Riad by French Defense Minister Robert Galley. Reliable circles in France say that the agreement provides for the sale of “large quantities” of Crotale batteries. France is already supplying Crotale missiles to Libya.
The Crotale is a highly sophisticated missile used for low-flying airplanes. Many observers here believe that following the recent rapprochement between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, King Faisal intends to transfer part of the missiles to Egypt where they can be used to protect low-flying planes and the SAM installations at major Egyptian airfields and along the Suez Canal zone.
Reliable sources in Paris add that Galley also seems to have reached a tentative agreement for the supply of 36 Mirage 3E jets. Preparations are being made at the French military air base at Dijon for the arrival of some 40 Saudi pilots and technicians. The men. who are to be trained by the French are due to arrive early-next month. Negotiations providing for the sale of the Mirages started last May during Faisal’s visit to Paris.
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