FILE: Graduation ceremony for the Egyptian Army College's class of 2017
CAIRO – 30 June 2018: At the time when Egypt is bracing to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the June 30 revolution, the national air force celebrate its national day that also falls on June 30 of every year.
Field Marshal Ali Fahmy, commander of Egypt’s Air Defense forces, spoke to military press correspondents in a press conference held on Friday on the occasion of the passage of the 48 years since its founding.
FILE:Field Marshal Ali Fahmy, commander of Egypt’s Air Defense forces
On the reasons behind setting June 30 as the national day for the air force, Fahmy recounted: “In the face of the advanced Israeli air force’s capabilities compared to the modest ones of the Egyptian air force at the time of the 1972 war, Egypt built a missile wall to deter the attacks of the Israeli air force and thanks to it, our forces managed to take down an Israeli phantom jet aircraft for the first time in early July of 1970 and then the air force achieved successive accomplishments and managed to fluster our counterpart.”
“Since then June 30 was chosen to be the national day for the Egyptian air force,” he added.
He further illustrated that the missile wall was comprised of a diverse collection of combat missiles and anti-aircraft artillery that are put in systematic order inside fortified sites capable of repelling and destroying counter missile attacks.
He stressed that the Egyptian air force's keenness to boost its military personnel and to constantly supply it with high tech military equipment that can be used in the field mission, and to diversify the sources of military weapons provided to it.
“We always seek to expand cooperation with the friendly Arab and Western countries in this regard and by conducting joint exercises such as the Egyptian-American Military training named (Bright Star), the one conducted in conjugation with Greece (Medusa-5), and the joint military drill with Saudi Arabia "Faisal 11" to exchange experience and learn about the latest methods of planning and managing operations adopted in other countries,” Fahmy briefed the media.
He stressed that the College of Air Defense is one of the most modern advanced-technology research military campuses in the Middle East, and is considered a destination for students coming from Arab and other countries and are willing to learn the necessary military skills based on the latest means of technological and research methods.
Egyptian naval and air force units in Greece to take part in Medusa 5 joint drills
He stressed that the General Command of the Armed Forces always conducts periodic meetings of leaders of different ranks to constantly keep abreast of the developments related to the military sphere.
Next Saturday and Sunday are declared to be public holidays for all employees in private and public sectors.
On June 30, 2013, Egyptians took to the streets and public squares to demand the ouster of former-Muslim-Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohamed Morsi, who was sworn in as the president of Egypt in June 2012.
Massive protests broke out in protest to his rule characterized by the domination of the Brotherhood figures over high governmental positions.
Shortly after Morsi was sacked by then-Defense Minister Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the Rabaa al Adawiya mosque and its adjacent area as well as Giza’s Nahda square became the main places for Muslim Brotherhood rallies.
The Rabaa sit-in was said to have disturbed the lives of the district’s residents; “the sit-in was actually an attempt to impose a new reality, even on Rabaa residents,” prominent salafist preacher Yasser el-Borhami said earlier.
Egyptian and U.S. military forces participating in Bright Star exercises
The protests at Rabaa used to remove the tiles of the pavements to forge barricades and block the roads surrounding the sit-in.
Since the ousting of President Morsi, Egypt has seen growing waves of extremism washing over the society and spawning numerous deadly attacks. Among these attacks was the terrorist attack that hit Al-Rawdah Mosque and left more than 302 Friday congregates dead in late November.
A month earlier, the Interior Ministry announced that 16 security officers had been killed during clashes with militants in Wahat in the Western Desert; the clashes also led to the killing of 15 militants.
CAIRO - 14 September 2017: The Egyptian and Saudi Arabian airforces will conduct joint aerial forces drills, called "Faisal 11," which will be hosted by Egypt for several days.
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