اقرأ باللغة العربية One certainty in military relations is that they are strategic relations that last for years and decades due to their nature and balance. They require an exchange of joint interests and perhaps unity of destiny or goals that are achieved due to this extended relationship. A relationship of armament between countries requires political consensus on vision and is built on common threats to both sides, because by nature it is an extended relationship that begins at a moment of need for a type of weapon, then stages of negotiations for purchase, then training and decades of supplying spare parts, maintenance, providing enough ammunition for training, as well as use in military operations. There are also joint military games and training between armies and specialised units that primarily aim at exchanging know-how, unifying understandings, coordinating joint weapons on land, sea and air battlefields, as well as benefiting from modern weapons techniques and how to use these capabilities in battle. This benefits both sides, irrespective of the technological or logistical gap between them. Military observers, news agencies and think tanks have pondered the participation of Egypt's military in three war games with three international and regional powers simultaneously. These are countries that have strategic relations and political alliances with Egypt and are engaged on several key issues, which reflects Egypt's foreign policies that were formed after the 30 June 2013 Revolution. Egypt is hosting the Bright Star military training with US forces at the Mohamed Naguib Military Base and on the northwest coast, a comprehensive military exercise involving all weapons and ammunition. This comes after a hiatus of many years due to political tensions with the administration of former US president Barack Obama, which had pressured Cairo – including by meddling in military and economic aid and halting several arms deals and maintenance and training contracts — to keep political Islam and violent terrorist groups in power in Egypt and other regional countries following what is known as the Arab Spring. The second military exercise is in Moscow for Egyptian and Russian paratroopers, also known as elite troops. It is a continuation of training projects and protocols that include air, sea and land between the two countries, and a reflection of close cooperation in arming the Egyptian army with modern weapons systems after years of absence when Egypt only relied on US weapons despite a US doctrine that does not allow Egypt to surpass in military strength the Israeli army. The outcome of this was supplying Egypt with MiG-29 aircrafts and the S-300 air defence system while foregoing two French-made Mistral helicopter carriers and signing a deal to outfit them with Russian navigation, control and command systems, as well as 46 Kamov Ka-52 helicopters and naval vessels armed with modern missiles. There are also negotiations to build a joint military industrial base in Egypt, specifically for modern armoured vehicles. The third exercise is between the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian air forces, which are conjoined in a fateful battle to secure navigation in the Red Sea beginning at Al-Mandab Straits and the many strategic islands, in order to ensure freedom of navigation, battle piracy, and undermine Israel's and Iran's agenda and scheming. This takes place within a framework of several war trainings with Gulf countries, including Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait. It is also confirmation that Egypt supports its brothers in securing the vital zone of the Arab Peninsula from the Gulf to the Red Sea. Observers of these exercises can objectively see there is no other country in the world that can hold exercises with both Russia and the US simultaneously because of differences in policies, vision and strategies of these two greatest military powers, alongside China. Egypt, however, is keen on its independence in decision making and balanced relations, as well as joint interests. Thus, it was able to break out from the polarisation circle and obtain from all international parties what it wants when it wants, and find alternatives to ease any military or economic pressure after months of siege to punish Egypt and its people for ending the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and the region. Egypt began to rehabilitate, retrain and rearm its army in the year preceding the 30 June Revolution, and after that adopted a policy of diversifying sources of weaponry from Russia, China, Germany, France, Spain, South Korea and Italy, leaving Washington and London to freely cooperate militarily or not as developments occurred without compromising any Egyptian fundamentals. Based on the principle that military relations are a critical extended strategy, news on the Internet and social media about severing military ties between North Korea and Egypt are untrue, because relations to Pyongyang are historic. The military describe them as brothers in arms since Pyongyang stood by Egypt in its decisive battle with Israel in October 1973, provided training and support on MiG-21 jets for Egypt's air force after president Anwar Al-Sadat expelled Soviet experts. These relations continued after the war by supplying arms and ammunition to the Egyptian army. It is most likely that these reports and analyses are directly linked to the visit of General Sedki Sobhi to South Korea to finalise deals on arms, training and joint manufacturing, as well as leaks about opposition by some Congressmen, grumblings about Cairo's relations with Pyongyang and tethering it to military aid to Egypt during tensions with North Korea's leader, who is adamant in pursuing his country's nuclear weapons programme to equal the US's power and deter it and its allies Japan and South Korea from escalation or sanctions. However, there is no obligation to redefine bilateral relations because this is a matter of sovereignty that is only subject to Egyptian calculations. Simultaneously, participating in military exercises with Russia and in the Bright Star manoeuvres is clear proof of this.
