Egyptian Armed Forces
The Egyptian Armed Forces (Egyptian Arabic: القوات المسلحة المصرية, romanized: alquwwat almusalahat almisria, Egyptian (Coptic): ⲠⲐⲱⲟⲩϯ ⲙ̀ⲙⲁⲧⲟⲓ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛⲕⲏⲙⲓ) are the military forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Forces.[6] Previously, there was a separate command for the Egyptian Land Forces[7] on March 25, 1964, but it was officially abolished after the Six-Day War of 1967, so that the command of the land formations returned directly to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, and the ground formations were divided to the forces east of the canal, under whose command the two armies (the Second and the Third) and the military regions (central, northern, western, and southern), in contrast to the rest of the forces, bodies, departments, and auxiliary agencies.[8]: 304:307 [8]: 142:144
Egyptian Armed Forces
Victory or Martyrdom
c. 3150 BC (ancient Egypt)
305 BC (ancient Egypt (Ptolemaic))
868 (Tulunid)
935 (Ikhshidid)
969 (Fatimid)
1171 (Ayyubid)
1250 (Mamluk)
1820 (modern)
1967 (current form)
Egyptian Army (abolished command)
Egyptian Navy
Egyptian Air Force
Egyptian Air Defense Forces
General Mohamed Ahmed Zaki
Lieutenant General Osama Askar
18–49
1–3 years depending on circumstances
438,500[1]
479,000[1]
4.82 billion dollars (in addition to 1.3 billion US aid)[2]
Egyptian conquest of Sudan (1820–1824)
Greek War of Independence
Egyptian-Ottoman War (1831-1833)
Syrian Peasant Revolt (1834–1835)
Ethiopian–Egyptian border conflict
1838 Druze Revolt
Egyptian-Ottoman War (1839-1841)
Crimean War[5]
Second French intervention in Mexico
Cretan Revolt (1866-1869)
Egyptian invasion of the Eastern Horn of Africa
Serbian-Turkish Wars (1876-1878)
Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878)
Egyptian–Ethiopian War
'Urabi revolt
Anglo-Egyptian War
Mahdist War
Anglo-Egyptian conquest of Sudan
World War I
Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition
1919 Revolution of Egypt
World War II
1948 Palestine War
Egyptian Revolution of 1952
Tripartite Aggression
North Yemen Civil War
Six-Day War
Nigerian Civil War
War of Attrition
October War
Shaba I
Egyptian–Libyan War
1986 Egyptian conscripts riot
1999 East Timorese crisis
Gulf War
War on Terror
Egyptian revolution of 2011
2013 Egyptian coup d'état
Sinai insurgency
Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)
Egyptian involvement in the Second Libyan Civil War
All branches, forces, armies, regions, bodies, agencies and departments of the Armed Forces are subject to the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who simultaneously holds the Ministry of Defence. This position is currently held by Lieutenant General Mohamed Zaki (since June 2018),[9] Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production. The only person above him in the leadership ladder is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, who is the President of the Republic, and this position is currently held by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General Osama Askar (since October 2021).[10] The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces consists of 23 members, headed by the Commander-in-Chief and Minister of Defense, and represented by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, with membership of: Commanders of the main branches of air, navy, and air defense, commanders of the border guard forces, commanders of the armies (Second and Third), and commanders of the military regions (Central, Northern, Western and Southern) and the heads of the Operations, Armament, Logistics and Supply, Engineering, Training, Financial Affairs, Military Justice, Management and Administration, the directors of the Officers Affairs and Military Intelligence departments, the Assistant Minister of Defense for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, and the Secretary of the Council is the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense.[11][12]
Senior members of the military can convene the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, such as during the course of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, when President Mubarak resigned and transferred power to this body on February 11, 2011.[13]
The armament of the Egyptian armed forces varies between eastern and western sources through weapons deliveries by several countries, led by the United States, Russia, France, China, Italy, Ukraine and Britain. Much of the equipment is manufactured locally at Egyptian factories. The Egyptian armed forces celebrate their anniversary on October 6 each year to commemorate the Crossing of the Suez during the October War of 1973.
The modern Egyptian armed forces have been involved in numerous military crises and wars since independence, from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Egyptian Revolution of 1952, Suez Crisis, North Yemen Civil War, Six-Day War, Nigerian Civil War, War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, Egyptian bread riots, 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot, Egyptian-Libyan War, Gulf War, War on Terror, Egyptian Crisis, Second Libyan Civil War, War on ISIL and the Sinai insurgency.
There is an undergraduate military school for each branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces, and they include: