Military of Egypt

The armed forces of Egypt are the largest on the African continent and one of the biggest in the world (ranked 11^th), consisting of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Command.

Egypt maintains a large paramilitary force under the control of the Ministry of Interior. They number around 350,000 strong and are known as the Central Security Forces. The government also has a relatively strong National Guard and Border Security Forces however they, unlike the Central Security Forces, come under the control of the Ministry of Defence and are reported to number 60,000 and 20,000 respectively.

The Commander-in-Chief is Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The Chief of Staff is Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan.

The armed forces inventory includes equipment from the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. Equipment from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt, such as the M1 Abrams tank.

To bolster stability and moderation in the region, Egypt has provided military assistance and training to a number of African and Arab states. Although not a NATO member, Egypt remains a strong military and strategic partner and is a participant in NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue forum. The Egyptian military is one of the strongest in the region [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/180382/Egypt#tab=active~checked%2Citems~checked&title=Egypt%20--%20Britannica%20Online%20Encyclopedia] , and gives Egypt regional military supremacy rivaled only by Israel [http://www.acpr.org.il/NATIV/2000-6/2000-6-shawnpinexs.htm] , besides being the strongest in Africa [http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Egypt_-_Military/id/1289421] [http://www.k12academics.com/egypt_military.htm] [http://books.google.com/books?id=VkOT4E8-Z_IC&pg=PA299&lpg=PA299&dq=strongest+military+Africa+Egypt&source=web&ots=FaYnW_qvQh&sig=x8kv5oRVQqmLLJPAYANO9qDyt7s&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA299,M1] . Egypt is the only Arab country with a spy satellite and will launch another one by the end of 2007 [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467733037&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull] .

The Egyptian Army

The armed forces inventory includes equipment from the United States, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. Equipment from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt, such as the M1A1 Abrams tank which makes Egypt the owner of the biggest number of latest generation MBT's in the region, and the second after Syria in case of the older generations.

The Egyptian Air Force

The Egyptian Air Force or EAF is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Currently, the backbone of the EAF is the F-16. The EAF (planes and Pilot training) is considered to be the strongest in Africa and one of the strongest in the Middle East. The Mirage 2000 is the other modern interceptor used by the EAF. The Egyptian Airforce has 225 F-16s making it the 4th Largest operator of F-16 in the World. It has over 579 combat aircraft and 149 armed helicopters as it continues to fly extensively upgraded MiG-21s, F-7 Skybolts, F-4 Phantom, Dassault Mirage Vs, and C-130 Hercules among other planes. The Air Force is undergoing massive modernization. Mikoyan confirmed that talks with Egypt are underway for the possible sale of Mig-29SMT jet-fighters.

Rank symbols on the epaulettes resemble those of the Army but are made of silver colour metal not golden like the Army and the Air Defense Forces.
Officer Ranks are :
*Second Lieutenant,
*First Lieutenant,
*Captain,
*Major,
*Lieutenant Colonel,
*Colonel,
*Brigadier General,
*Major General,
*Air Marshal

The Egyptian Air Defense Command

The Egyptian Air Defense Command or ADF (Quwwat El Diffaa El Gawwi in Arabic) is Egypt's military command responsible for air defense. Egypt patterned its Air Defense Force (ADF) after the Soviet Anti-Air Defenses, which integrated all its air defense capabilities – antiaircraft guns, rocket and missile units, interceptor planes, and radar and warning installations.

Its current commander is Major General Abdel-Aziz Seif. It consists of 30,000 officers & soldiers plus 40,000 conscripts

The Egyptian Navy

Although the Egyptian Navy is the smallest branch of the military, it is large by Middle Eastern standards. It has a total of 60,000 personnel.

The Egyptian Navy is known to be the strongest in Africa and the strongest in the Middle East in spite of the rapid growing of other countries navies within the region.

Some fleet units are stationed in the Red Sea, but the bulk of the force remains in the Mediterranean. Navy headquarters and the main operational and training base are located at Ras at Tin near Alexandria.The current commander is lieutenant general Said Pa'gora

"See list of naval ships of Egypt for a list of vessels in service."

The Egyptian Paramilitary Forces

Paramilitary Forces number around 435,000 and consist of:
*"Central Security Forces": under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. It is the law enforcement authority in the country. The Central Security Forces, number around 350,000 personnel.

*"National Guard": under the control of the Ministry of Defense and numbers about 60,000 personnel and they are mainly for ceremonials and parades. The National Guard armored division is not a part of the Corps, it is rather for the defence of the Presidential institution and the Capital.It's current commander is Major General Samy Dyab

*"Border Guard Forces": under the control of the Ministry of Defense. The Frontier Corps is a lightly armed paramilitary unit of about 25,000 personnel, mostly Bedouins, responsible for border surveillance, general peacekeeping, drug interdiction, and prevention of smuggling. During the late 1980s, the force was equipped with remote sensors, night-vision binoculars, communications vehicles, and high-speed motorboats.

*"Coast Guard": is responsible for the onshore protection of public installations near the coast and the patrol of coastal waters to prevent smuggling. With a force of 5,000 personnel, it has an inventory consisting of about thirty five large patrol craft (each between twenty and thirty meters in length) and twenty smaller Bertram-class coastal patrol craft built in the United States.

Egyptian Military Schools

There is an undergraduate military school for each branch of the Egyptian Military establishment, and they include:

* The Egyptian Military Academy
* The Egyptian Naval Academy
* The Egyptian Air Academy
* The Egyptian Air Defense Academy
* The Egyptian Military Technical College
* The Egyptian Technical Institute
* Nasser Military Academy
* College of Commanders and Chief of Staffs
* college of reserve officers

See also

*Flags of the Egyptian Armed Forces
*Egyptian Military Industry

References

* [http://www.mmc.gov.eg/ Egyptian Armed Forces]
* [https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html CIA World Factbook]
* [http://www.fas.org/main/content.jsp?formAction=297&contentId=196 FAS]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/egypt/ GlobalSecurity]
*Further Reading: see Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in "International Security", Vol. 28, No.2.