Египетская ПВО: История и развитие

Air defence branch of Egypt's military

In mid 1956 the formation of a decent number of units of light and medium anti aircraft artillery began. Following the outbreak of the Suez Crisis, the Egyptian anti aircraft artillery forces had to face a large number of modern French and British aircraft, which Egypt's old artillery systems that date back to World War II were no match for, to the point that coalition aircraft were strafing Egyptian soldiers and vehicles with their cannons at low altitudes. Nonetheless, the Egyptian AAA units succeeded at inflicting heavy losses on coalition aircraft, despite the lack of training and outdated equipment they managed to shoot down several aircraft over Cairo, Alexandria and Sinai, and in Suez the Egyptians set up a trap for coalition aircraft that tried to bomb the bridges that link the Sinai Nile Valley and the artillery units managed to foil their attempt at destroying the bridges. And in Port Said the artillery forces managed to hold out for several days against intensive air attacks. And confined all the means and weapons and equipment anti air attacks under one command to ensure coordination and unification of responsibility and in order to achieve success, and in the 23 June 1969 was appointed Lieutenant General Mohammed Aly Fahmy as the first EADF commander, who took it upon himself to reorganise the forces and the management of cadres and personnel training and increase their level of tactical and tactical mission and technical, with a broad technological base capable of accommodating modern air defence weapons as soon as possible in order to deprive Israel of air superiority. Near the end of the war, on June 30, 1970, Egyptian SAM units shot down four IAF aircraft (2 Skyhawks & 2 Phantoms) from this day to August 6 the EADF shot down 12 IAF aircraft (mostly Phantoms) that this week was nicknamed "Week of the falling Phantoms" this event brought an end to the war and start of Roger's peace negotiations. June 30 has become the EADF anniversary since then.

The establishment of the EADF required the establishment of a long range early warning network to detect any hostile aircraft approaching the Egyptian airspace and provide enough time to warn the air defence and artillery positions, and secure the necessary critical information. This required a large and diverse number of warning systems to be used in full cooperation and coordination, and strengthening it with a network of visual observation points and equipping it with a flexible and continuous transportation network, providing steadfastness to it so that the enemy cannot destroy any part of it or blind it by means of electronic warfare.

The General Command of the Armed Forces began to support the EADF with modern types of weapons, electronic equipment and anti aircraft missiles that fly at low altitudes, and the EADF continued to establish sites fortified with the expansion of the country from Aswan to Alexandria and from Port Said to Matrouh, and the state devoted its material and engineering capabilities to build these sites in the shortest possible time, with the preparation of roads and the establishment of telecommunications. The Israeli leadership focused its air strikes on the canal line with the aim of sticking to the ceasefire lines and tightening its grip on that front, and identified the tasks of the Israeli Air Force in destroying Egyptian military sites, especially field artillery shelters, and preventing the establishment of new anti aircraft missile bases in the channel area, and isolating important areas on The Egyptian front and paralyze any moves aimed at introducing or mobilizing forces in the region. To counter these concentrated air strikes, the EADF introduced anti aircraft missiles to the canal area, and constructed anti aircraft missile walls using the slow and steady crawl method by establishing fortifications of each domain and occupying it under the protection of its back range. Other ranges extend to the middle of the distance between Cairo and the front of the canal, and the necessary field fortifications were established for 24 missile bases. Implementing a plan to deceive and absorb Israeli air strikes by creating structural sites. On the morning of June 30, 1970, Israeli warplanes that chanted Egyptian missiles that inflicted heavy losses on the Israeli Air Force were surprised, so that the rocket wall became a reality, and Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir stated, In exchange for those great losses that occurred, Israel sought a ceasefire, but in the few hours leading up to the implementation of the ceasefire on August 8, 1970, the EADF managed to complete the missile wall on its final image.

After the Six day war, Egypt managed to form a huge AA Belt of one division placing dozens of SAM battalions (Six missiles each) on the west bank of the Suez Canal. The plan was to repel the anticipated Israeli Air Force Counterattack on the Egyptian forces during Operation Badr using ambush tactics, where between 6 and 8 October alone, around 50 IAF aircraft were shot down. By October 8, the Israeli Air Force warned all their pilots not to fly over Port Said due to the density and danger posed by the Egyptian SAM sites.

The EADF is undergoing extensive modernization with budgetary constraints being the only hindrance. Currently, it is believed to possess the following weaponry:

SystemImageOriginNumberComment Air defence S 400 Triumf N/A Egypt has expressed its interest in buying S 400 systems.