ANNUAL anniversary celebrations are usually the only time the media gets to take a peek at what's going on within the Egyptian Armed Forces, reports Amira Ibrahim. This week's 34th Air Defence Day afforded an opportunity for Air Defence Lt Gen Sami Anan to speak to the press about the latest developments under his command. "We have successfully developed our weapons via a precise and realistic plan that meets the necessary requirements of the modernisation ... [which] has been carried out over several phases to ensure the continuity and balance of our air defence system," Anan said during a press conference accompanying the event . "We have completed the upgrading of existing radar systems and brought in more advanced systems with tremendous capabilities for working in differing circumstances." Anan said his troops were now equipped with modern missile batteries, and that more command and control units had been mechanised. "This aims to allow efficient automatic control and command of all air defence activities," he said. Egypt's Air Defence Forces were established in 1968. In the wake of the previous year's defeat, they were mainly entrusted with constructing a missile wall capable of stopping Israeli jet fighters from freely flying over the western bank of the Suez Canal. The mission was carried out without air shelter, and amidst heavy Israeli air bombardment. When the wall was completed on 30 June 1970, using a Russian SAM missile battery system, Israeli warplanes were forced to stay 15 kilometres off the eastern bank. Anan said that since the 1973 war, the Air Defence Forces had adapted its modernisation process to the procurement of weaponry from different sources. His troops, he said, had dealt with and developed the weapons -- regardless of their source -- in ways that "suited Egyptian fighting strategies. We make the device serve our needs." Over the past three years, Anan also said, the troops had participated in more exercises using live weapons and missiles in order to improve their performance and readiness.
