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Source: Cairo – Ashraf Abdel Hamid
Al-Arabiya channel sources revealed that military units belonging to the Egyptian navy will participate with Russia in maneuvers, the first of their kind in the Black Sea.
These maneuvers will be one of the largest naval military exercises in the region, and will include several combat missions and various war missions, and one of their objectives will be to prevent arms smuggling.
The sources said that the Egyptian military units were sailing in the Mediterranean, and would cross the Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara to reach the point of the exercises.
To find out what message these maneuvers convey and who they can target, Al-Arabiya.net interviewed Major General Hamdi Bakhit, a military and strategic expert and member of the Egyptian Parliament.
Bakhit told Al-Arabiya.net: “The message is clear, understandable and unequivocal, which is that Egypt-Russia relations have reached the highest level both in military and strategic terms, and that Egyptian military capabilities are great, strong and ready for deterrence, and their weapons are long even outside the country’s borders. “
Egyptian warships
He explained that the joint exercises between Egypt and Russia “do not start today”, and began in 2017 as part of the “Friendship Bridge exercises between Egypt and Russia.”
However, Bakhit considered that the movement of the Egyptian fleet to carry out these exercises in the Black Sea, for the first time, “has an important fundamental dimension and sends a strong language message to Turkey, be it from Egypt or Russia” . He continued: “On the Egyptian side, the message to the Turks is: if it gets into the Mediterranean and into Libya, we will reach the Black Sea and the shores of the watching seas. Therefore, the deterrence is ready and the force is present. The Egyptian navy will pass off the coast of Turkey, is there any more test of force than that? “
He added: “As for Russia, the message is that Turkish manipulation of the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is not allowed.”
Bakhit said that what is new about this training from a military point of view is that the big preparations are preceded by the long journey from the Egyptian shores to the Black Sea, and the exercise will continue until the end of this year. And he considered that this matter “reveals great capabilities at the military level and the level of cooperation between Egypt and Russia, and is part of dissuasive messages for some forces that inflame tension and tension in the region and the Mediterranean.”
Egyptian military sailors
“The exercises will enhance the Egyptian naval presence in the Black Sea and near the coast of Turkey, as the latter is trying to do and is looking for a foothold off the coast of Libya and near Egypt,” he added. He said these maneuvers, in addition to the Egyptian maneuvers with France, Greece and Spain, “reveal the nature of the relations and balances in the region, and who is with Egypt and shares the role in protecting the security of the region and the Mediterranean, and who is firmly opposed to attempts at manipulation by Turkey. “
Today, Saturday, the Egyptian Navy carried out a joint naval exercise with Spain in the Mediterranean. The training included many different activities, including an air defense exercise, the implementation of navigation formations, in addition to the implementation of visible and wireless transport exercises and naval aviation exercises.
A few days ago, the Egyptian Navy, together with French forces, carried out a naval exercise in the Mediterranean that included many different training activities, including security and protection exercises for an area of importance against the threat of submarines in the night, and electronic warfare exercises.
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