 |
| Military of Egypt |
| Military manpower |
| Military age |
18 years of age for conscript military service; 3-year service obligation (2001) |
| Duration of service |
18 months-3-year service obligation (depending on level of education) (2001) |
| Availability |
males age 18-49: 18,347,560 (2005) |
| Fit for military service |
males age 18-49: 15,540,234 (2005) |
| Reaching military age annually |
males: 802,920 (2005) |
| Active troops |
450,000 (Ranked 11th) |
| Military expenditures |
| Dollar figure |
$2.5 billion (2006)+ $1.3 billion of U.S military aid annually |
| Percent of GDP |
3.1% (2006) |
The armed forces of Egypt are the largest on the African continent and one of the biggest in the world (ranked 11th), 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. Besides being the strongest military power in Africa, the Egyptian Armed Forces is one of the strongest military powers in the Middle East. Egypt is the only Arab country with a spy satellite and will launch another one by the end of 2007[1].
The Egyptian Army
Main article: 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 MBTs in the region after Israel, and the second after Syria in case of the older generations.
The Egyptian Army having the largest number of equipment, and personnel, beside having many co-training operations with other countries like the United States, and a leading modern technology warfare, is thought to be the strongest in both Africa and the Middle East. Major generals of the army constitute the most powerful men in the country especially those who serve in the central area and the military intelligence. Major general El Tohamy was the man who occupied the position of "chief of military intelligence " for years is considered one of the top ten powerful men in Egypt. Nowadays chief of the central military area is general El Roweiny
The Egyptian Air Force
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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 paulettes resemble those of the army but are made of silver colour metal not gold like the army and air defense forces. Ranks are : Lieutenant, First lieutenant, captain, major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, brigadier general, major general and lieutenent general (chief of the air forces)
The Egyptian Air Defense Command
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The Egyptian Air Defense Command or ADF (Al 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
Main article: 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 20,000 personnel.
The Egyptian Navy is known to be the strongest in Africa and 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. Israeli navy comes in second place in the middle east after the egyptian navy which showed great power and predominance in combat activity. That is due to the experience and courage of the egyptian officers rather than technical equipment. However , the egyptian navy is gaining much progress today both in trainings and weapon technology
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 Presedential institution and the Capital.
- Border Guard Forces: under the control of the Ministry of Defense. The Frontier Corps is a lightly armed paramilitary unit of about 20,000 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:
College of commanders and staff
See also
References
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