| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Africa North | |
| Egyptian military acquisitions 2017: A timeline | |
| 2018-01-07 | |
The drive to build Egypt’s military capabilities entailed infrastructural and human resource development. The renovation and expansion of the Mohammed Naguib and Sidi Barrani military bases were part of a comprehensive drive to upgrade seaports, airports, landing strips, roads, bridges and other essential infrastructure and facilities. The military continued to sponsor joint training exercises and manoeuvres with regional and international partners staged in crucial strategic locations. Multilateral exercises focusing on the Gulf region were conducted alongside other bilateral drills: the Zayed manoeuvres with the UAE; the Faisal manoeuvres with Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... ; the Hamad drills with Bahrain; the Yarmouk operations with Kuwait and the Aqaba manoeuvres with Jordan. Egypt also took part in the Cleopatra 2017 manoeuvres with La Belle France, the Defenders of Friendship tactical exercises with Russia and the Bright Star manoeuvres with the US. The latter resumed for the first time since the January 2011 Revolution. Egypt continued to diversify its sources of armaments. In addition to procurements from its conventional source of arms, the US, Egypt acquired major military hardware and electronic systems from Russia, La Belle France and Germany. To meet escalating regional and international challenges the Armed Forces identified new theatres of operation. The restructuring that led to the launch of the Southern Fleet was necessary to address mounting threats in the Red Sea, including those posed by the ongoing war in Yemen. The upgrading of the Mohammed Naguib and Sidi Barrani bases in north-western Egypt not only allows the army to better perform its conventional functions but also to undertake new tasks related to combating illegal migration and cross-border infiltration and safeguarding newly discovered economic resources such as the offshore natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean. | |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 Entities a lot more important, and powerful, than Egypt have New Ottoman Empire in their sights. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-01-07 11:31 |
| #3 The Egyptian army is hard pressed to deal with jihadis at home and just across the border in Libya, Alan. They pushed back against Saudi demands for aid in Yemen as long as they dared, given how badly they’ve needed Saudi charity in recent years. They ended up providing only naval support, not invasion troops as the Saudis had wanted, as I recall. However much Egypt might resent neo-Ottoman adventures, they cannot afford a local Monroe doctrine. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2018-01-07 10:33 |
| #2 I wonder exactly what Egypt thinks of the Neo-Ottoman designs on Africa. Somehow I doubt they look kindly on them. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2018-01-07 09:08 |
| #1 first in the region to acquire an |
| Posted by: Frank G 2018-01-07 08:34 |