Egyptian company Benha Electronics partners with French company Thales to co-produce military communications equipment

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Thales CEO Patrice Caine attends the Thales Group shareholders’ general meeting on May 23, 2018 in Paris, France. (Photo: Vincent Isore/IP3/Getty Images)

BEIRUT — As part of efforts to boost local defense production by Arab countries, Egyptian company Benha Electronics has joined forces with France’s Thales to co-produce communications and signaling devices.

According to a statement issued today by the Egyptian Ministry of State for Military Production, under the agreement, the two companies intend to “cooperate in the field of training, research and development in relation to the production of communication devices and signaling systems in light of the agreement signed by both parties to establish a new joint company called “Thales & Benha Electronics SAE””

The statement added that this joint venture (JV) “is the result of the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production’s drive to localize the latest production technologies in affiliated factories in cooperation with various international companies, emphasizing that the Ministry’s main mission is to meet the needs and requirements of the Egyptian Armed Forces in terms of various products (ammunition, weapons, equipment and advanced electronic systems) produced by affiliated factories.”

Benha Electronics, also known in Egypt as Factory 144, is a state-owned Egyptian electronics company and a subsidiary of the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production.

The ministry’s official spokesman, Mohamed Eid Bakr, said the agreement “is in line with the work policy of the Ministry of Military Production, which is based on openness to cooperation with specialized international companies operating in various industrial sectors,” the statement read.

Bakr reiterated that the Minister of Military Production is interested in “taking advantage of French experience in various areas of military production, especially in light of the fruitful cooperation and strong ties between the two countries.”

Egypt is one of the few countries that operates defense systems—from aircraft to artillery—of both Western and Eastern origin, which allows the country to attempt to interoperate both systems with locally developed C5ISR systems.

Christophe Salomon, Thales’ executive vice president for secure communications and information systems, said in a statement that the joint venture “benefits both parties” and that he hoped the agreement would take it to the level of a strategic partnership.

Breaking Defense previously interviewed Thales CEO Patrice Caine at IDEX 2023, where he expressed the company’s hopes to expand into the Middle East.