U.S. Suspends F-16 Delivery To Egypt

The U.S. yesterday suspended the delivery of F-16 attack aircraft to Egypt.

"We do not believe it's appropriate at this time to move forward" on sending the four F16 Fighting Falcons to the Egyptian Air Force, said George Little, the chief Pentagon spokesman. "Just given the overall situation, we thought it prudent to make this decision," Little said, explaining the growing U.S. discontent with the Egypt’s election frenzy.

Shortly after the July 3 military action that ousted elected President Mohammed Morsi, the Pentagon said that the delivery of the F-16s would be completed by the end of July. The White House also declined to define the military takeover as a coup, which would have required the U.S. under the Foreign Assistance Act to cut off the $1.3 billion in annual military assistance to Egypt.

Little said it was unclear whether the promised delivery of spare parts and upgrade equipment for Egypt's M1A1 Abrams tanks would go ahead later this year.