'Egyptian Armed Forces' celebrates 51st Air Defense Day showcasing its history

CAIRO – 29 June 2021: On the occasion of Egyptian Air Defense Day marking June 30, the Egyptian Armed Forces posted a video showcasing the history of the branch, which was established 52 years ago.

In the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Late President Gamal Abdel Nasser issued a decree on February 1, 1968 to form the Air Defense Force as a separate branch.

On June 23, 1969, the branch's first commander was appointed and that was Major-General Mohamed Ali Fahmy. His main mission was undermining the Israeli Air Force, which had to be done by building a "Missile Wall" to fend off any Israeli attacks against vital targets in Egypt.

The beginning was from June 30, 1070 when Egyptian missiles downed two Israeli 'Phantom' fighter jets and two 'Douglas A-4 Skyhawk' warplanes taking three pilots hostage. That day was the beginning of the "Phantom Fall Week" as 22 Israeli jets were destroyed.   

On the eighth of August of the same year, Israel approved Rogers Plan to launch a ceasefire. Nevertheless, on September 17, 1971, the Egyptian Air Defense hit an Israeli electronic-warfare aircraft, whose model was Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, that was observing Egyptian forces western the Suez Canal.

During the 6th of October, 1973 War, the missiles targeted the enemy's fighter jets that were approaching Egyptian territories downing 326 warplanes and capturing 22 pilots.

The video highlighted the development the branch has undertaken so as the focus has been on anti-aircraft missiles, electronic warfare, and shoulder-fired rockets. That is in addition to qualifying human elements in alignment with the highest standards.

One tool of accumulating experience is joint exercises with a number of countries. Those include the Egyptian-American Exercise "Bright Star," Egyptian-French Exercise "Cleopatra," Egyptian-Greek Exercise "Medusa," Egyptian-Jordan Exercise "Al Aqaba," Egyptian-Kuwaiti Exercise "Al Yarmouk," Egyptian Arab Joint Exercise "Arabs Armour," Egyptian-Russian Exercise "Arrow of Friendship," and Egyptian-Pakistani Exercise "Sky Guardians."