اقرأ باللغة العربية Last week, Egypt received the second of the four 42S Type 209/1400 submarines it ordered from Germany in the framework of a comprehensive plan to upgrade and develop the Egyptian navy into the largest and best equipped navy in the Middle East and North Africa. The submarines give another major boost to Egypt's northern and southern fleets following the addition of the Mistral-class helicopter carrier and the FREMM class Aquitaine multipurpose frigates. Such acquisitions will better equip the navy to perform its essential duties in its vital fields of operation in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. In forging ahead with its ambitious armaments programme in spite of difficult economic circumstances, the Armed Forces is guided by a strategic vision founded on the cardinal principle that a powerful deterrent force is key to safeguarding the Egyptian people and their land at a time of regional turmoil and upheaval. As Egypt looks around it in the region it sees government institutions and states that have collapsed with millions of people dead and many millions more driven from their homes due to the ravages of violence and terrorism unleashed by the Islamist movement and its militias. It is aware, moreover, that these militant Islamist groups are backed and funded by regional and international powers that hope to empower the Islamist trend in the so-called Arab Spring countries and that had set their sights on Egypt as the intended hub and command centre for their designs because of the presence of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood's leadership and guidance bureau here. Accordingly, the Egyptian political leadership was determined to equip the country's Armed Forces with the most sophisticated and modern weaponry and to broadcast this by means of major ceremonies so as to convey a message to any power that contemplates a bid to undermine the Egyptian state of the post-30 June 2013 period. The Egyptian leadership's policy of diversifying the sources of armaments acquisition conveys an equally if not more important message, which is that Egypt will not bow to pressures from any foreign party. Thanks to this crucial strategy, we find Russian, French, Spanish, Germany, Chinese and South Korean arms side by side with American ones in our arsenals and, moreover, an overall quality of hardware that could not have been obtained without the policy of diversification. For example, Egypt has obtained four Russian-made S300VM “Antey-2500” anti-ballistic missile systems, known to be the best air defence system in the world. Added to this are the new Russian-made Protivnik-GE 3D early warning surveillance radar with a range of up to 400 kilometres and, also from Russia, the Buk-M2E advanced defence missile complex that can be deployed against a range of ground and air targets simultaneously. There are also reports that Egypt has received the first batch of MiG-35 multirole fighter planes plus three of the 46 Kamov Ka-52 (“Aligator”) reconnaissance and combat helicopters that it had ordered from Russia for deployment on the Mistral. In its last report, Global Firepower ranked the Egyptian army among the top 10 armies in the world. The 2017 GFP review ranked Egypt as the strongest army in the Arab region and Africa. This advanced ranking is the product of a number of factors. Perhaps the most important is the fact that the Armed Forces has acquired an optimum combination of US and Russian hardware, such as the Russian-made Ka-52s and the US-made Apaches. The French-made Rafale and Mirage fighters combined with the Russian MiG-35s offers another model of the diversification in the Egyptian Air Force fleet. Naturally, the overall size and quality of the Air Force fleet is a crucial factor and, in this regard, Egypt possesses a “total aircraft strength” of 1,132, the backbone of which consists of more than 200 US-made F-16 “Falcon” fighters. Last month, Egypt inaugurated the Mohamed Naguib Military Base, the largest military base in the region. The complex is equipped to support a powerful combination of Armed Forces capacities offering both high combat efficacy and superior flexibility, qualities that are essential in order to meet the many challenges and threats that face Egyptian national security. Because of the demands for constant, round-the-clock vigilance and preparedness, the base is equipped with outstanding facilities to accommodate fighters, from modern housing and residence facilities to diverse and fully equipped training fields, shooting ranges and other facilities designed to keep soldiers at peak levels of fitness and combat readiness. This combined with the modern, high precision weaponry ensures the ability to respond swiftly and effectively to all types of possible aggressions in that strategic northwestern corner of the country and to protect such strategic assets as the Dabaa nuclear plant and offshore natural gas fields. In addition, the base, with its diverse facilities, has added a crucial dimension to measures to combat cross-border infiltration of terrorists, arms smuggling, human trafficking and other threats emanating from the Libyan theatre. To the forgoing we must add the comprehensive development in Egyptian ground forces, artillery, tanks and special forces, rounding out the overall defence and combat systems available for all potential theatres of operations in all geographical directions. In the process, special attention has been paid to raising the morale of officers and soldiers and to girding them with a special combat creed that keeps them conscious of the fact that they are part of the strongest standing army in the Middle East and that this army has come under the crosshairs of malicious designs. These designs are simultaneously targeting the army's natural host environment, namely the Egyptian people and the support they have always shown their army. The chief tactic here is to delude the Egyptian people into questioning their army, its creed, its leadership and the nature of the tasks and duties it performs in order to help the country through this delicate phase in its history. Building the Egyptian army is an important part of building a strong and modern state capable of appreciating the significance of the current phase in the region, coming to terms with the dangers it holds and summoning the will and resources to progress. But we must also realise that building a strong army is not sufficient. It is simultaneously essential to build a physically, educationally and culturally strong, healthy and cohesive society, towards which end it is important to support the economic reforms that are needed to fund the processes of building the army and society. Another source of strength is political fortitude which is manifested in firm and resolved stances on all regional and international issues and in confident, concrete steps to promote these stances, to enhance Egypt's weight and standing and to ensure that the red lines it draws are clearly visible to anyone who contemplates damaging Egypt's vital interests. Finally, there is the need for robust media and cultural production capable of influencing the regional environment and, thereby, serving as a form of “soft power” to add to and bolster our sources of “hard power”. By covering all these bases, we can build the comprehensive strength of the country that has stood as a symbol of civilisation, culture and strength throughout human history. While there were moments of weakness, decline and occupation, Egypt has always remained able to tip back the scales, recover and move forward again.
