La Tribune said Singapore had bought the missiles to equip six Lafayette frigates already ordered in March from the French government's Marine Construction Department (DCN) shipyard.

Aerospatiale had already confirmed a report in the August 30's edition of the Israeli daily Haaretz that it had beat Israeli competition to a contract for sea-to-sea missiles among other items.

An Aerospatiale-Matra Missiles spokesman refused to disclose the client or the financial terms of the deal.

The client country had demanded "the greatest secrecy" about the order, the spokesman told AFP.

But the company's contract was less than the reported US$700 million because other suppliers were involved in the deal, he added.

Aerospatiale, a subsidiary of the new European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company, will be selling Singapore Exocet sea-to-sea MM-39 missiles.

Israel's state-owned Israeli Aircraft Industries and privately owned Rafael had been bidding for the contract, Haaretz reported.

The secrecy surrounding the deal once again raised the issue of the lack of transparency in French arms deals.

A parliamentary committee on arms exports said last April that current practice was damaging France's reputation and called for greater accountability to the public in such transactions.