Sisi developed Air Force 'inimitably': Air Force commander

CAIRO – 14 October 2017: "President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi took it upon himself to develop and strengthen the military organization when he served as minister of defense and military production," commander of the Egyptian Air Force Younes Hamed Al-Masry told private satellite channel DMC in a phone interview on Friday evening.

The 57-year-old air marshal added that how the aviation branch of the Armed Forces was developed over the last three years is considered "utterly inimitability".

Hamed served as the Air Force Chief of Staff before getting appointed to the post in August 2012; he is a member of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

On September 3, 2015, Hamed

met

commander of the U.S. Air Force Central Command, Lieutenant General Charles Q Brown Jr., in Cairo during a two-day visit to Egypt as they discussed Egypt's vital role as a force for regional stability and a bulwark against terrorism.

Hamed added that all members of the Air Force are proud of the history of the Armed Force's branch, recalling a number of tasks carried out by the Air Force, especially the Ofira Air Battle of the October 1973 war against Israel.

The Ofira Air Battle was one of the first air battles of the October 6, 1973 Arab-Israeli War; the Egyptian Air Force took Israel by surprise during the Yom Kippur celebrations as it launched a massive surprise opening airstrike on Israel with the participation of at least 200 Egyptian aircraft, which conducted simultaneous strikes against three airbases, three command centers and some artillery positions and radar installations.

Amer Mostafa contributed to this article