 |
| Military of Egypt |
| Military manpower |
| Military age |
18 years of age for conscript military service; 3-year service obligation (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 12th) |
| Military expenditures |
| Dollar figure |
$2.44 billion (2003) |
| Percent of GDP |
3.4% (2004) |
The armed forces of Egypt are among the largest in the region, 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 250,000 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 be 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. To bolster stability and moderation in the region, Egypt has provided military assistance and training to a number of African and Arab states. Egypt remains a strong military and strategic partner of NATO. Egypt is the strongest military power in Africa, and the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel. (Source Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual Middle East Strategic Balance).
The Egyptian military can only be understood by relative comparison to a nation it has fought nearly all of its wars with, Israel. The comparative military capabilities of two nations where one is developing and the other is developed is not as simple as glancing towards the military budget expressed in U.S. dollars. If for e.g. two nations have the same defence budget and spend it totally on foreign arms purchases they will both purchase exactly the same quantity. The complicating factor is that for a developing country the cost to purchase labour is usually much lower than it is in a developed country. Therefore if Egypt and Israel spent the same amount on defence which is used totally on recruiting soldiers, Egypt would field a bigger army than Israel. In essence money spent for foreign purchases are equal, but money spent on local arms and recruitment favour the country of lower cost of purchases. Therefore Egypt finds it comparatively cheaper to field a larger army than purchasing foreign equipment. A major reason Egypt does not have a superior military force than Israel is that they spend only $2.5 billion U.S.D. as opposed to $10 billion spent by Israel. The lower recruitment cost advantage of the Egyptians is simply insufficient to overcome the much greater expenditure by Israel.
Air Force
Main article: Egyptian Air Force
The Egyptian Air Force or EAF (Arabic: القوات الجوية المصرية al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya il-Misriya) is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Currently, the backbone of the EAF is the F-16. The Mirage 2000 is the other modern interceptor used by the EAF. It has over 579 Combat Aircraft and 121 Armed Helicopters as it continues to fly MiG-21s, F-7 Skybolts, F-4 Phantom, Il-28, Dassault Mirage Vs, and C-130 Hercules among other planes.
Air Defense Command
Main article: Egyptian Air Defense Command
The Air Defense Force or ADF is the command responsible for the protection of the Egyptian air spaces. The ADF had an estimated 80,000 ground and air personnel, including 50,000 conscripts. Responsibility had previously been divided among several commands. Egypt patterned its new Air Defense Force (ADF) after the Soviet Air Defense Command, which integrated all its air defense capabilities--antiaircraft guns, rocket and missile units, interceptor planes, and radar and warning installations.
Army
Main article: Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service within the military establishment of Egypt. It is estimated to number around 320,000. However, since Egypt has been under going a modernisation plan it may see a cut of up to 25 percent of its personnel. Many believe such a large cut will not take place due to the need to reduce unemployment, and it would reduce the need for officers which are already in excess.
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.
Some fleet units were stationed in the Red Sea, but the bulk of the force remained in the Mediterranean. Navy headquarters and the main operational and training base were located at Ras at Tin near Alexandria.
See list of naval ships of Egypt for a list of vessels in service.
Paramilitary Forces
The Paramilitary force numbered around 330,000 and they consist of the Central Security Forces, the National Guard, the Border Guard Forces and the Coast Guard.
Central Security Forces
Under the control of Egypt's ministry of Interior, it is the law enforcement authority in the country. The Central Security Forces (CSF), has a total of around 250,000 personels.
National Guard
Under the control of Egypt's ministry of Defense and numbered 60,000.
Border Guard Forces
Under the control of Egypt's ministry of Defense and numbered 20,000.
Coast Guard
The Coast Guard was responsible for the onshore protection of public installations near the coast and the patrol of coastal waters to prevent smuggling. With a force of 2,000, it has an inventory consisting of about thirty large patrol craft (each between twenty and thirty meters in length) and twenty smaller Bertram-class coastal patrol craft built in the United States.
Military Schools
There is a undergraduate military school for each branch of the Egyptian Military establishment, and they include:
See also
References
