In July 2018, a group of international, French, and Egyptian NGOs published a report accusing several French companies of profiting from Egypt's military crackdown on dissent. According to the report, these companies have "participated in the bloody Egyptian repression of the past five years by supplying Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime with military and surveillance equipment." Dassault Aviation,Manurhin, MBDA, Naval Group, Safran, and Arquus (part of Volvo) have reportedly supplied Egypt with a range of military aircraft, warships, armoured vehicles, missles, drones, and ammunition production machines. Other companies including Airbus, Ercom, IDEMIA, and Thales have allegedly provided technology capable of implementing mass surveillance on an unprecedented scale. 

Rights groups also claim that these companies have disregarded the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council 2013 decision to suspend exports of any equipment that could be used for domestic repression in Egypt.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Airbus, Dassault Aviation, Ercom, IDEMIA, Manurhin, MBDA, Naval Group, Safran, Thales, and Volvo. Only Airbus, IDEMIA, Thales, and Volvo provided responses (available below).