CAIRIO, MARCH 17, 2018 - The Egyptian and French navies wrapped up joint naval drills in the Red Sea Saturday. The drills, which lasted several days, included joint reconnaissance and surveillance operations and joint naval games that demonstrated the growing capabilities of troops and naval units involved. The drills also included counter-terrorism operations for maintaining maritime security, according to a statement by the spokesman of the Egyptian army Col. Tamer el-Rifae. He said on his Facebook page that drills also incorporated searching ships and ship and mid-sea refuelling. Participating in the joint Egyptian-French drills was a host of naval units, including Egyptian and French Mistral-class helicopter carriers. Egyptian Navy Commander, Ahmed Khaled, witnessed part of the drills on board of a French helicopter carrier.
