Egyptian Air Defense Command قوات الدفاع الجوي | |
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File:Egyptian Air Defense Forces insignia.png | |
Active | 1968 - Present |
Country | Egypt |
Branch | Air Defense |
Type | Land Based Aerial Defense Network |
Part of | Egyptian Armed Forces |
Garrison/HQ | Alexandria, Egypt |
Motto(s) |
إيمان, عزم, مجد Faith, Will, Glory |
Anniversaries | June, 30 |
Commanders | |
Commander in Chief | Lieutenant General Abd Al-Moniem Al-Terras |
Insignia | |
Flag | |
Insignia | Egyptian Army ranks |
The Egyptian Air Defense Command or EADC (Arabic language: قوات الدفاع الجوي, Quwwat El-Difa' El-Gawwi), is Egypt's military command responsible for air defense, part of the Military of Egypt. Egypt patterned its Air Defense Force (ADF) after the Soviet Air Defence Forces, which integrated all its air defense capabilities – antiaircraft guns, rocket and missile units, interceptor planes, and radar and warning installations. The Commander in Chief is Lieutenant General Abd Al-Moniem Al-Terras[1] It consists of 30,000 officers & soldiers plus 40,000 conscripts.
History[]
After most of the country's aircraft was destroyed on ground by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967, the military placed responsibility for air defense under one commander, the results of which proved positive by the air defense's performance in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Weaponry[]
It is undergoing extensive modernization with bugdetary constraints being the only hindrance to what was once dubbed by Israeli air force generals during the 1973 Ramadan (Yom Kippur) war as "the most extensive and sophisticated air-defense system in the world after the one defending the U.S.S.R...". Currently, it is believed to possess the following weaponry:
Modern low, medium and high altitude SAMs of American, French, Russian design or local license built, including:
Regional Air Defense Missile Systems[]
Regional/Strategic Perimeter level SAM[]
- Indigenous Tayer el-Sabah (Morning Bird) (reverse-engineered and modernized SA-2 Guideline S-75 Dvina missile: 40 Batteries (6 single units per Battery, 2 reloads each)(Medium/High Altitude, Long Range SAM)
- MIM-104(PAC-3) missile: 4 Batteries (4 Stationary (towed) units per Battery, 16 missiles per unit plus 2 reloads each)
- Modernized MIM-23 HAWK "Improved HAWK" missile: 18 Batteries (6 SP units per Battery, 3 missiles per unit plus 2 reloads each) (Medium/High Altitude, Medium Range SAM)
- Modernized SA-3 2M Pechora missile: 43 Batteries (each with 2 Stationary units, 4 missiles per Stationary unit plus 1 reload each) (Low/Medium Altitude, Medium Range SAM)
- 9K37 Buk missile: 10 batteries purchased in 2005
Army Corps and Division level SAM[]
- (Being considered pending US government approval) Ground-launched AIM-120 AMRAAM "SLAMRAAM" missile on Humvee: 9 Batteries (4 sp units per battery, 4 Missiles per unit plus 2 reloads each) with ANQ-TPS 67 radar (SP Medium Altitude, Medium/Long Range SAM)
- Modernized SA-3 2M Pechora missile: 10 Batteries (6 SP units per Battery, 2 missiles per S/P unit plus 1 reload per unit) (Low/Medium Altitude, Medium Range SAM)
- Modernized SA-6 Gainful missile: 14 Batteries (6 SP units per Battery, 3 missiles per unit plus 1 reload each)(Low/Medium Altitude, Medium Range SAM)
- SA-15 Gauntlet missile : 16 firing units
Field Point Defense Surface to Air Systems[]
Brigade and Battalion level SAM[]
- Skyguard "Amoun" anti-aircraft system Aspide 2000 missile: 40 Batteries " 18 battalion + 4 batteries for training " (2 4-cell Aspide missile launchers and 2 Oerlikon GDF-005 twin 35mm guns with one Skyguard Fire Control System per battery).
- Modernized Crotale NG missile: 16 Batteries (9 units per Battery, 4 Missiles per unit plus 2 reloads each)(SP Low/Medium Altitude, Short Range SAM)
- MIM-72/M48 Chaparral low-altitude SAM AIM-9 "Sidewinder": 86 SP units (4 Missiles per unit plus 2 reloads each)(SP Low Altitude, Short Range SAM)
- AN/TWQ-1 Avenger : 75 Batteries ( 4/8 ready-to-fire FIM-92 Stinger missiles + .50 caliber machine gun with an electronic trigger that can be fired from both the Remote Control Unit (RCU) located in the drivers cab, and from the handstation located in the Avenger turret )( provides mobile, short-range air defense protection for ground units against cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, low-flying fixed-wing aircraft, and helicopters )
By the end of 2008, With the Support of The United-States (through FMF and private contractors\firms) all missile, radar, observation posts, command and control systems are to be linked into a complex multi-level, national computerized early-warning air defense command (C3I4) via modified EC-130H Hercules (modified to AWACS-like specifications) transport aircraft, EW AWACS "Grumman" E-2C Hawkeye 2000, EW ECM Beechcraft 1900 ELINT, underground sheltered-reinforced fiber-optic network.
Commanders of the Egyptian Air Defense Command[]
- June 1969 to January 1975 Field Marshal Mohammed Aly Fahmy
- January 1975 to December 1979 Lieutenant general Helmy Afify Abd El-Bar
- December 1979 to January 1986 Lieutenant general El-Said Hamdy
- January 1986 to October 1987 Lieutenant general Adel Khalil
- October 1987 to December 1990 Lieutenant general Mostafa El-Shazly
- December 1990 to April 1993 Lieutenant general Zaher Abd El-Rahman
- April 1993 to April 1996 Lieutenant general Ahmed Abou Talib
- April 1996 to 19 July 2001 Lieutenant general Mohammed Elshahat
- 19 July 2001 to 30 October 2005 Lieutenant general Sami Hafez Anan
- 30 October 2005 to 12 August 2012 Lieutenant general Abd El Aziz Seif-Eldeen
- 12 August 2012 to Incumbent Lieutenant general Abdul Meniem Al-Toras
Beret[]
Beret | ||
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Officer | Brigadier General | General |
Notes[]
External links[]
- [1]
- Jane's Defence news on Egyptian S-125 upgrade, April 2006
- Defencetalk on Egyptian S-125 upgrade, October 2006
- http://www.kommersant.com/p718548/r_527/Egypt_arms_trade
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The original article can be found at Egyptian Air Defense Forces and the edit history here.