Minister of Defense and Military Production Lieutenant-General Mohamed Zaki witnessed Sunday the operational training "Majd-16" implemented by artillery forces in the Second Field Army. The training was also attended by Lieutenant-General Osama Askar, Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces, leaders of the main army branches, members of the national security committee of the House of Representatives, and some media figures. The training is part of the annual combat training plan for Armed Forces formations and units. At the beginning of the activities, Defence Minister Zaki visited an exhibition that included a number of weapons, equipment, fire management systems, and modern technical research on artillery management. Then, the Commander of the Second Field Army delivered a speech in which he stressed the full support given by the General Command of the Armed Forces to the tactical formations, the main branches and all specialized weapons to reach the combat readiness rates to the highest stages of readiness to carry out all the tasks entrusted to them efficiently and proficiently. The training included topographical and tactical guidance, implementation of air reconnaissance, and air support work. This comes as artillery is the main firepower in the modern Joint Weapons Battle, which provides support and fire ascension to the forces during the various stages of the battle. In this regard, the Air Force is cooperating through the implementation of a number of clashes with ground targets by multi-model fighter jets, which have hit their targets with high accuracy in coordination with indirect and direct archery artillery to secure troop combat during the offensive battle. The Air Defence Forces also carried out a number of clashes with hostile air targets. The latest artillery reconnaissance methods and fire management preparation systems were used against hostile targets, quickly locating and destroying them using rocket artillery and self-propelled artillery with high firepower and destructive power, and the ability to deal with enemy targets in depth. Chemical warfare elements carried out smoke blinding and smoke curtains using the latest missile systems, as well as opening gaps by military engineers. The training showed the high quality of the participating elements in terms of combat skills, the use of the latest control and guidance systems for various weapons and equipment, and the speed in discovering and identifying field targets and dealing with them. At the end of the training, Minister Zaki conveyed the greetings and appreciation of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to the participating elements. He also praised the outstanding performance reached by the forces executing the training and the high level they achieved in maintaining the highest levels of combat efficiency for all weapons and equipment.
