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The Egypt navy has as its
principal operational subdivisions: the Mine Warfare, the
Costal Patrol Boat, the Frigate, the Missile Boat and the
Submarine commands.
The Egypt Navy represents the
Egyptian military` s smallest branch and among its
challenging and various missions is to protect over 2.000
kilometers of the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea`s coastline,
to defense the Suez Canal`s approaches and to offer support
to the army operations.
Since the navy don` t have an
air arm it depends on the Egypt air force for the maritime
protection and reconnaissance against the eventual attacks
with submarines.
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The navy is supported by the air
force`s equipment that includes: 13 SH-2G Seasprite, 9
Gazelle as well as 5 Sea King helicopters that have
antisubmarine and anti ship missiles. For the troops
transportation the H-3 Sea King and Mi-8 helicopters are
used. The Egypt navy also has a fast missile patrol craft
called Ambassador MK III diesel powered and having 60
meters. The boats` construction started in the spring of
2001, the new boats having updates regarding the radar
detection.
The principal operational subdivisions
of the Egypt navy used to be: the submarine, the torpedo
boat commands, the destroyer, the missile boat and the mine
warfare. Two Descubierta frigates, made in Spain, had
Stingray torpedoes and Aspide missiles as equipment. The
navy also had 10 submarines Romeo class, (8 operational), 4
offered by the Soviet Union and 4 offered by China. 4 of
these submarines were modernized by an American company and
it included the refitting of the vessels in order to be able
to fire Mk 37 and SSMs torpedoes. In 1989 the Egypt navy
received 2 submarines Oberon class from United Kingdom.
The submarines needed some
modernizations before being a part of the navy. China and
the Soviet Union are the countries that provided the fast
attack crafts armed with torpedoes or missiles. 6 missile
boats called Ramadan class made in Britain in the 80` s and
having automat SSMs were the most modern. After the Egypt
navy was neglected for a period, in 1989 the modernization
process begun. The most of the equipment which the navy was
built with came from the Soviet Union in the 60s but in the
80s the navy received vessels from Western countries and
from China.
There were 18 000 employees in the
navy, in 1989, without the 2 000 employees of the Coast
Guard. 3 years conscripts justify almost half of the
employees. The main bases were on the Mediterranean Sea at
Port Said, Al Iskandariyah (Alexandria), and Marsa Matruh.
The main bases were also on the Red Sea at Bur Safajah, Al
Ghardaqah and Bur Tawfiq (Port Tawfiq), close to the Suez.
Aprt of the fleets units remained at the Red Sea, while the
force`s bulk were at the Mediterranean Sea. At Ras at Tin,
in the vecinity of Alexandria were situated the principal
training and operational base as well as the navy
headquarters.
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