France posts record weapons sales on Rafale deals

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Thursday said France doubled its sales of arms in 2015 to 16 billion euros (17.44 billion U.S. dollars) compared to 2014 figures.

"We hit a record (or arms sales). I'm very proud of the French industries," Le Drian told the news channel BFMTV.

In a recent interview with the daily Le Monde, Le Drian said with the record sales, the security industry would offer " almost 30,000 new jobs over several years for the industry."

In 2015, France snatched its first overseas contracts of Rafale fighter jets after failing to conquer foreign markets since 2000 due to its high price. Orders from India and Egypt of about 60 of Dassault Aviation-built planes contributed to French growing arms sales last year.

According to the latest report on weapons industry, the sector employed 40,000 workers with weapons sales represented 8 percent of the country's total foreign trade in 2013. (1euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars) 
  Xinhua -china.org.cn 14/1/16