Sunday, October 16, 2016

Russian troops are in Egypt for first ever bilateral military drill in Africa

Egypt for the first time will play host to Russian troops. Both countries will participate in a joint participate in a joint military drill. The drill has been codenamed “Defenders of Friendship 2016”. This drill kicked off yesterday and will last till October 26.

The aim is for both nations to practice joint anti-terrorist actions and representatives of 30 countries will monitor the war games. According to the Russian Defense Ministry: “International [military] exercises of the Russian and Egyptian Airborne forces on the African continent are being conducted for the first time.




 

The Russian-Egyptian exercises involving units of airborne troops of the Russian Federation and the airborne troops of the Arab Republic of Egypt will develop common approaches to locate and destroy illegal armed groups in a desert environment."

100 tons of military hardware will be delivered to Egypt for use in the drills, these include: airborne combat vehicles, armored personnel carriers and quad bikes. The joint drills are based on earlier agreements between Moscow and Cairo.