A force to be reckoned with

Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet Union .

The Egyptian air force was forged in a succession of hard-fought wars; against Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973, against Libya in 1977, and supporting Republican Yemeni forces against Saudi-backed Royalist forces (1962-70). This gave it considerable combat experience, though most veterans have now retired.

Egypt ’s close relationship with the USSR was brought to an end by president Anwar El Sadat in 1972. National identity was reinforced and the EAF founded a formation display team – the ‘Silver Stars’ – equipped with four L-29 jet trainers.

The air force also began to reduce its reliance on Soviet equipment and introduced Mirage fighters into the inventory, initially via a loan arrangement with Libya and subsequently through the purchase of some 54 Mirage 5s with Saudi Arabian funding.

Following the signature of the Camp David Accords by president Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978, and the subsequent 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, Egypt lost the support of many of its Arab neighbours. Saudi Arabian plans to send 50 F-5s to Egypt were cancelled. Instead, a new relationship was forged with the USA . Thereafter, Egypt would turn to the USA , France , and later China , for its new aircraft and weapons and the air force increasingly began to train with the USAF and its allies.

One of the first fruits of the new relationship came in September 1977, when 35 ex-USAF F-4Es (armed with Sparrow, Sidewinder and Maverick missiles) were supplied to the EAF at a cost of US$594 million under the Peace Pharaoh programme. Ten further aircraft were supplied subsequently and the survivors still serve with 76 and 78 Squadrons of the 222 Fighter Regiment.

Behind the scenes, Egyptian cash was augmented by a more secretive arrangement under which large numbers of its Soviet-built fighters (including MiG-17s, MiG-21s, MiG-23s and Su-20s) were sent to the USA for analysis and for use in a secretive adversary training programme. Other Soviet-built fighters were supplied to other US allies for evaluation, and a few to China .

From 1980, US and Egyptian ground forces began training together in the Operation Bright Star series of exercises. These were progressively expanded in scope, adding air force participation from 1985. Today Bright Star is held every two years and involves tactical air, ground, naval and special operations forces from a number of nations including France , Germany , Greece , Italy , Jordan , Kuwait , the Netherlands , the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom , as well as the USA and Egypt .

From 1982, Egypt began receiving the first of 240 F-16 fighters under the initial phase of the seven-stage Peace Vector Programme. The F-16 today forms the backbone of the EAF. With some 200 in service, it is the world’s fourth largest F-16 operator.

The EAF’s F-16s still serve in the air defence and tactical fighter roles, and have been upgraded to enable them to fire the AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile. The 40 Block 32 F-16C/Ds (34 Cs and six Ds) delivered under Peace Vector II were compatible with the AIM-7 Sparrow, giving them a robust air combat capability.

Other deliveries from the USA included five E-2C Hawkeye Airborne Early Warning aircraft, which entered service in 1987 (these were later upgraded with advanced AN/APS-145 radars and augmented by a sixth example). In 1995 the EAF received ten SH-2G Seasprite helicopters for use aboard the Egyptian Navy’s two ex-USN Knox-class and four ex-USN Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates. 

Egypt also received 36 AH-64A Apaches (35 survivors were upgraded to AH-64D standards in 2001).

The country ordered 15 Elicopteri Meridionali-built CH-47C Chinooks in 1980 and Boeing began upgrading 12 of these to CH-47D standards from 2002; these subsequently joining four new-build D-models in 1998.

But Egypt was not content to rely solely on the USA for the supply of weapons, and placed significant orders for French equipment, following the success of the Mirage 5.

Egypt ordered 30 Alpha Jet MS1 trainers, with Dassault delivering the first four complete aircraft from June 1983. The remaining 26 were supplied in kit form for assembly in Egypt .

Egypt also received 15 examples of a close support version of the Alpha Jet, designated MS2. These incorporated a TMV630 laser rangefinder in a modified nose, together with a digital avionics suite, including a SAGEM ULISS 81 INS, and a Thomson-CSF VE-110 HUD. Dassault delivered the first four complete and the remainder were assembled locally.

The Silver Stars converted to the new Alpha Jet in 1984 and increased from six to nine Alpha Jets in 1985.

The EAF was the first export customer for the Mirage 2000, ordering 20 aircraft in late 1981. Deliveries began in 1986 and the EAF formed a single squadron with 16 single-seat Mirage 2000EMs and four two-seat Mirage 2000BMs, which became operational in 1987. Financial problems put paid to plans for a second squadron, but the survivors continue to serve as multi-role fighters, armed with Matra Super 530D medium range semi-active radar guided air-air missiles and AS30L laser guided air-to-ground missiles.

Egypt also license-built armed and unarmed variants of the French Gazelle helicopter for its armed forces and significant numbers remain in use.

The country turned to Brazil to address its need for a new basic trainer, becoming the first export customer for the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. It placed an initial order for 40, ten delivered direct from Embraer from 1984, and 30 assembled locally between 1985 and 1988. The Egyptians ordered 14 more in 1989. The Helwan factory also assembled 80 aircraft for Iraq .

Egypt also forged a relationship with China , ordering 150 Chengdu F-7s (the unlicensed Chinese copy of the MiG-21) to beef up its fighter force. The Egyptians received a mix of F-7Bs and much improved F-7M Airguard fighters, the latter featuring western avionics, including a GEC Type 226 Skyranger radar and a Type 956 HUDAWAC.

In 1999, Egypt agreed to buy 80 K-8E (JL-8) Karakorum advanced trainers to be built in country from Chinese-supplied kits. Compared to the basic K-8, the K-8E for Egypt incorporated 33 modifications to the airframe and avionics. The K-8E prototype made its first flight on June 5 2000 and deliveries were completed in 2005. License production of an additional batch of 40 K-8Es began immediately. The K-8E re-equipped the Silver Stars team in 2004, and the type augments the Alpha Jet in the training role.

In terms of aircraft numbers, the largest recent EAF order was for 68 Grob G-115 primary trainers. Other orders have been for small numbers of aircraft, often to top up in-service aircraft fleets. Three ex Danish C-130H Hercules were acquired in 2004, for example, and in May 2009, Egypt made an official request to buy ten AH-64D Apache Block II attack helicopters, though these still lack Longbow targeting radar.

Upgrades have been undertaken on surviving MiG-21s, which have gained glass cockpits, helmet-mounted sights, and R-73 missiles, and to the air force’s six E-2C Hawkeyes, which are being upgraded to Hawkeye 2000 standards.

Perhaps the most important upgrade programme has seen the air force’s older Block 15 and 32 F-16s outfitted with most of the features of the Block 40/42 features, fitted with holographic HUDs and able to carry LANTIRN pods and AGM-88 HARM missiles.

For some years, the Egyptian air force has had a requirement for a more capable strike fighter than the F-16. Egypt requested 12 F-15E Strike Eagles in 2002, but this request was turned down, as was a 2005 request for the supply of 60-100 F-16C/D Block 60/62s.

After this rebuff, in November 2006, Egypt began talks with Mikoyan hoping to buy 40 MiG-29SMT fighters. By 2007, it was negotiating for a larger batch of 60-80 MiG-29SMTs, 20-25 Sukhoi Su-35s and 24-40 Yak-130 advanced trainer/light support aircraft. Subsequently, there were reports of Egyptian negotiations to join the Sino-Pakistani JF-17 programme, with a reported interest in taking 48 of these advanced fighters.

The chance that Egypt might buy Russian or Chinese fighters encouraged the USA to view the country’s request for advanced F-16s more sympathetically and, as a result, the EAF will now receive a batch of 16 F-16C Block 52+ and four F-16D Block 52s, together with JDAM kits for the EAF’s stock of Mk84 bombs. The supply of AIM-120 AMRAAM beyond visual range missiles remains problematic, however.

The EAF today is the primary aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. The air force has an inventory of 806 aircraft, including 586 combat aircraft and 149 armed helicopters. The force has 20,000 personnel, based at 20 main bases, and includes 22 frontline fast jet fighter squadrons. The air force operates 48 R4E-50 Skyeye UAVs, two Camcopter UAVs and 50 324 Scarab unmanned vehicles.

The EAF is backed by a dedicated Air Defence Command with US AN/TPS-93 and AN/TPS-63 radar systems augmenting a dwindling number of Soviet-produced radar systems. Air Defence Command’s five territorial divisions incorporate 60 Surface to Air Missile units with the S-125 Kub (SA-3 ‘Goa ’) system and an approximately equal number of S-75 Dvina systems. Egypt also uses US I-HAWK and Raytheon Patriot SAMs, some 26 self-propelled Chaparral launcher systems, Crotale SAMs and a range of anti-aircraft artillery gun systems.