Egyptian Armed Forces

The Egyptian Armed Forces are the largest in Africa, and the Middle East, and is the 10th largest in the world, consisting of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Command.

In addition, Egypt maintains large paramilitary forces. The Central Security Forces comes under the control of the ministry of interior. The Egyptian Border Guard Forces and the Egyptian National Guard, comes under the control of the Ministry of Defence.

Overview
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the senior uniformed officer, is General Abdul Fatah al-Sisi and the Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General Sedki Sobhi.

The Armed Forces' inventory includes equipment from different countries around the world. Equipment from the Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern U.S., 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 other African and Arab states. 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, and gives Egypt regional military supremacy rivaled only by Israel, besides being one of the strongest in Africa. Egypt is one of the few countries in the Middle East, and the only Arab state, with a reconnaissance satellite and has launched another one in 2007.

The Armed Forces enjoy considerable power and independence within the Egyptian state. They are also influential in business, engaging in road and housing construction, consumer goods, resort management, and vast tracts of real estate. Much military information is not made publicly available, including budget information, the names of the general officers and the military’s size (which is considered a state secret). According to journalist Joshua Hammer, "as much as 40% of the Egyptian economy" is controlled by the Egyptian military.

In January 2011, a delegation led by the chief of staff of Egypt's armed forces, Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan, was in Washington, D.C., although the visit was truncated due to the protests. The sessions, an annual country-to-country military coordination, were being led for the U.S. by Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Alexander Vershbow. A meeting with Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other talks had been planned to extend to 2 February. However, in light of events in Egypt, the delegation left Washington to return home. Before their Friday night departure, Vershbow urged the two dozen Egyptian military representatives "to exercise 'restraint'".

Senior members of the military can convene for the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, so during the course of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, when Mubarak resigned and transferred power to this body on February 11, 2011.

On Sunday 12 August 2012, new president Mohamed Morsi announced a series of military appointments. Hussein Tantawi, the minister of defence and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, was retired. Morsi also retired Sami Anan, the Army’s Chief of Staff. Morsi awarded both men state medals and appointed them as advisors to the president. Thirdly, the president appointed the head of the military intelligence, Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, as Minister of Defence to replace Tantawi. Sedky Sobhy, the commander of the Third Army (Egypt), was appointed as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Morsi also retired the Commander of the Navy, Mohab Memish, and appointed him as head of the Suez Canal Authority.

Army
The inventory of the Egyptian armed forces includes equipment from the United States, France, Brazil, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. Equipment from the Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern U.S., French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt, such as the M1A2 Abrams tank which makes Egypt the owner of the second largest number of latest generation main battle tanks in the region after Israel, and the second after Syria in case of the older generations. Conscripts for the army and other service branches without a university degree serve three years as enlisted soldiers. Conscripts with a General Secondary School Degree serve two years as enlisted personnel. Conscripts with a university degree serve one year as enlisted personnel or three years as a reserve officer. Officers for the army are trained at the Egyptian Military Academy one of the oldest academies in the world.

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 Air Force has 216 F-16s (plus 20 on order) making it the 4th largest operator of the F-16 in the World. It has about 579 combat aircraft and 149 armed helicopters having 35 Apache's AH-64D as it also continues to fly extensively upgraded MiG-21s, F-7 Skybolts, F-4 Phantoms, Dassault Mirage Vs, and the C-130 Hercules among other planes. The Air Force is undergoing massive modernization. Mikoyan confirmed that talks with Egypt are underway for the sale of 40 Mig-29SMT jet-fighters with a possible additional batch of 60-80 planes.

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.One of the most powerful airdefenses in the world. 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 commander is Major General Abdul Meniem Al-Toras.

Navy
Although the Egyptian Navy is the smallest branch of the military, it is large by Middle Eastern standards. The Egyptian Navy is known to be the strongest in the African continent, and the largest in the Middle East in spite of the rapid growth 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 el Tin near Alexandria. The current commander is Rear Admiral Osama El-Gendi.

The Navy also controls the Egyptian Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is responsible for the onshore protection of public installations near the coast and the patrol of coastal waters to prevent smuggling. 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.

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

Special Forces
Egyptian armed forces have different special forces which combat international terrorism, such as unit 777 and other for military purposes as the paratroopers airborne that use C-130 Hercules and Mi-8 and Chinook and also 999, frogmen and also Thunderbolt Marines. They all fall under the Thunderbolt team. Their training is very sophisticated as they train with American Delta forces, the British SAS,and Russian Spetsnaz having very high combat skills and the best of equipment. They are considered the strongest Arab and African special teams, where these countries send troops every year to Egypt to study and educate with the Egyptian thunderbolt teams.

Arab Organization for Industrialization
The Arab Organization for Industrialization supervises nine military factories which produce civilian goods as well as military products. Initially the owners of AOI were the governments of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, before the latter governments gave their shares back to Egypt in 1993, valued at $1.8 billion. AOI is now entirely in Egyptian hands.

Government paramilitary agencies
Government paramilitary forces .Two agencies, the Central Security Forces and Border Guard Forces, are under the control of the Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of Defence controls the Revolutionary National Guard, which is mainly for ceremonials and parades, but also for the defence of the Presidential institution and the Capital.

Military schools


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


 * Commanders & Staff Commanders College
 * Reserve Officers College
 * Nasser Academy for Military Science
 * The Egyptian Military Academy
 * The Egyptian Naval Academy
 * The Egyptian Air Academy
 * The Egyptian Air Defense Academy
 * The Egyptian Military Technical College

Foreign military assistance
The U.S. provides annual military assistance to the Egyptian Armed Forces. In 2009, the U.S. provided nominal $1.3 billion to the Egyptian military ($0 billion in ).

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