301. Memorandum From the Secretary of State’s Special Assistant for Intelligence (Armstrong) to the Secretary of State1
SUBJECT
- Egyptian-Soviet Arms Purchase Agreement
… received a report … to the effect that on September 21 Egypt signed an “open agreement” with the USSR to run for five years, in which the Soviets committed to sell certain categories of arms and military equipment to Egypt. At the time of signing, Egypt is reported to have given the Soviets an initial order for the following items:
- (1)
- 200 jet aircraft (100 to be delivered by December 1955, comprising 37 medium jet bombers and the remainder MIG–15’s).
- (2)
- 6 jet training planes.
- (3)
- 100 heavy tanks.
- (4)
- 6 torpedo patrol boats.
- (5)
- 2 submarines.
The cost of the above order is reported to be 30 million pounds sterling Egyptian ($86 million), payable in Egyptian exports; all of the equipment is to be of Soviet manufacture, and the report states that the first shipment has left, or is about to leave Odessa by ship for Alexandria. The first shipment is said to have been inspected and accepted at Odessa by Egyptian military personnel.
… Soviet technicians will come to Egypt to assist in assembling the aircraft, but will stay only three months, and that no other Soviet personnel are to come to Egypt in connection with the agreement. . . . the Soviets are trying to get Nasser to use his influence with Syria and Saudi Arabia in favor of their purchasing Soviet arms.
. . . . . . .
Comment: Other than for the heavy tanks, you will note that the list of equipment does not include artillery, which was reported as being offered by the USSR early in the summer. Nevertheless, receipt of the reported quantities of arms would, if the Egyptians could man and maintain them, give Egypt a numerical superiority in jet aircraft and heavy tanks over Israel (Egypt now has 52 British jet [Page 508] fighters and about 350 jet pilots). Israel is not known to have any medium jet bombers and to have only some 20 jet fighters, mainly French; Israel has no heavy tanks, but has about 300 medium and light tanks.
The terms of payment are only sketchily reported. Presumably, Egypt would ship cotton as the principal item in payment. The reported amount would mean over 100,000 tons of cotton if it alone were used (cotton comprises over 80 per cent of Egypt’s exports). Such an amount would take about one-third of Egypt’s normal exportable cotton.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 774.56/9–2355. Secret. Armstrong circulated copies of this memorandum to Hoover,Merchant,Allen, and Bowie. The source text bears a notation that Dulles saw this memorandum.↩