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Military of Egypt
Military manpower
Military age	18 years of age for conscript military service; 3-year service obligation (2001)
Availability	males age 18-49: 18,347,560 (2005)
Fit for military service	males age 18-49: 15,540,234 (2005)
Reaching military age annually	males: 802,920 (2005)
Active troops	450,000 (Ranked 11th)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$2.44 billion (2003)
Percent of GDP	3.4% (2004)

The 'armed forces of Egypt' are the largest on the African continent and one of the biggest in the world (ranked 11^th), consisting of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Command.
Egypt maintains a large paramilitary force under the control of the Ministry of Interior. They number around 250,000 strong and are known as the Central Security Forces. The government also has a relatively strong National Guard and Border Security Forces however they, unlike the Central Security Forces, come under the control of the Ministry of Defence and are reported to number 60,000 and 20,000 respectively.
The Commander-in-Chief is Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. The Chief of Staff is Lt. Gen. Sami Hafez Enan.
The armed forces inventory includes equipment from the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. Equipment from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt, such as the M1 Abrams tank. To bolster stability and moderation in the region, Egypt has provided military assistance and training to a number of African and Arab states. Although not a NATO member, Egypt remains a strong military and strategic partner and is a participant in NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue forum. It is the strongest military power in Africa. Egypt is the only Arab country with a Spy satellite and will launch another one by the end of 2007[1].

Contents

Army

Air Force

Navy

Paramilitary Forces

Military Schools

See also

References

Army

''Main article: Egyptian Army''
The armed forces inventory includes equipment from the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. Equipment from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt, such as the M1 Abrams tank.

Air Force

The 'Egyptian Air Force' or 'EAF' is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Currently, the backbone of the EAF is the F-16. The Mirage 2000 is the other modern interceptor used by the EAF. It has over 579 combat aircraft and 149 armed helicopters as it continues to fly MiG-21s, F-7 Skybolts, F-4 Phantom, Dassault Mirage Vs, and C-130 Hercules among other planes. The Air Force is undergoing massive modernization. Mikoyan confirmed that talks with Egypt are underway for the possible sale of Mig-29 jet-fighters.

Navy

''Main article: Egyptian Navy''
Although the 'Egyptian Navy' is the smallest branch of the military, it is large by Middle Eastern standards. It has a total of 20,000 personnel.
Some fleet units are stationed in the Red Sea, but the bulk of the force remains in the Mediterranean. Navy headquarters and the main operational and training base are located at Ras at Tin near Alexandria.
''See list of naval ships of Egypt for a list of vessels in service.''

Paramilitary Forces

Paramilitary Forces number around 330,000 and consist of the ''Central Security Forces'', the ''National Guard'', the ''Border Guard Forces'' and the ''Coast Guard''.

★ ''Central Security Forces'': under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. It is the law enforcement authority in the country. The Central Security Forces, number around 250,000 personnel.

★ ''National Guard'': under the control of the Ministry of Defense and numbers about 60,000.

★ ''Border Guard Forces'': under the control of the Ministry of Defense and numbers about 20,000.

★ ''Coast Guard'': is responsible for the onshore protection of public installations near the coast and the patrol of coastal waters to prevent smuggling. With a force of 2,000 personnel, it has an inventory consisting of about thirty large patrol craft (each between twenty and thirty meters in length) and twenty smaller Bertram-class coastal patrol craft built in the United States.

Military Schools

There is an undergraduate military school for each branch of the Egyptian Military establishment, and they include:

★ Air Defenses Academy

★ Egyptian Air Academy

★ Military Academy

★ Military Technical College

★ Naval Academy

★ Nasser Academy

★ Technical Institute

See also

★ Flags of the Egyptian Armed Forces

★ Egyptian Military Industry

References

★ Egyptian Armed Forces

★ CIA World Factbook

★ FAS

★ GlobalSecurity