Egyptian warships take part in drills with Russia and Sudanese air exercise
Three Egyptian warships have crossed the Bosphorus Strait on their way to take part in drills with Russian Naval Force in the Black Sea.
That is the first time the Bridge of Friendship joint naval exercise is taking place in the Black Sea as it used to be held in the Mediterranean. The 2020 drills will continue until the end of the year.
Egypt is contributing with Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate dubbed “Alexandria,” Gowind-class corvette called “Fateh,” and Ambassador MK III fast missile boat named “Mahmoud Fahmy.”
The vessels of both Egypt and Russia will be accompanied by aircraft and will “work out joint tasks to protect sea routes from various threats,” the Russian Defense Ministry said, as reported by Asia Times.
The exercise will include rocket and artillery fire from participating ships, and simulated inspections of suspicious vessels.
In another hand Egyptian Army announced the launch of Egyptian-Sudanese joint air exercise, dubbed The Nile Eagles 1, in Sudan’s Marwa air base north of Khartoum.
The Egyptian armed forces spokesman, Col. Tamer El-Refaie, said units from the air force and commando forces have arrived in Sudan’s Marwa air base to take part in the joint exercise. It runs until Nov. 26 and is the first of its kind between the two countries.
El-Refaie said that the joint exercise comes within the framework of boosting joint military cooperation between the armed forces of both countries and aims to enhance capabilities to carry out joint air tasks.
The exercise includes planning and managing joint combat activities by the two air forces. Multi-tasking fighter aircraft from both sides will execute offensive and defensive sorties on targets, and there will be training for the special forces of both countries in combat search and rescue activities.
The joint exercise began with theoretical and practical lectures to unify the required concepts and exchange expertise between the two sides.
Earlier, Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid visited the Sudanese capital Khartoum to discuss means of enhancing joint military and security cooperation. His visit also aimed at coordinating efforts between the two countries in various domains.
The talks also covered the agreement between the Egyptian and Sudanese leadership to accelerate the development of military and security cooperation to boost the capabilities of both sides in the face of regional security challenges.
The army spokesman said Gen. Farid held meetings with his Sudanese counterpart, as well as with the Sudanese minister of defense to discuss joint cooperation. The talks covered the executive measures of the recent visit by Abdel-Fattah Al-Borhan, chair of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council to Cairo.
During the meeting they agreed to carry out various training activities for all armed forces branches and to enhance cooperation in the fields of qualification, training and exchange of expertise, securing borders, combating terrorism, technical security and military industries. They further talked about enhancing the role of the armed forces in both countries in development and infrastructure projects.
