October 2007 - November 2007 IssueDefense Posture in the Arab Republic of Egypt
Defense wise Egypt now is in a better position than it was in the late Seventies, when it emerged vulnerable after the October 1973 war with Israel. Egyptian Minister of Military Production Dr. Sayed Mashaal said that Egyptian defense industries have historical roots going back thousands of years. Since 1953 this industry was capable of providing Egyptian armed forces with different types of weapons and equipment. New plants started production during the past few decades. More than 8 Billion Dollars were invested in establishing a new militarized industrial base. Dr. Mashaal said that Egypt diversified its armed sources, and used its relations with multi-national companies in order to enhance its domestic production. A recent deal with the Pentagon (Department of Defense) gave Egypt the right to the production of 75% of the American tank M1-A1 in Egyptian plants. The Chinese training plane K8-E is currently assembled in the Egyptian Military Industries. K8-E is modified according to the needs of Egyptian air force. Egypt has profound experience with air defense systems. It is said that Egypt is modernizing, with Russian help, some of its old systems, such as Sam-3. Rocket production was started in the country 50 years ago. The same is true with military planes production (The plans were abandoned later). Dr. Mashaal said that Arab countries spend more money on defense and security systems than any other country in the world. These countries spent more than 260 Billion Dollars in the five-year period of 1992-1997. Arab countries spend 7% of its GDP on defense matters, while this rate is 1% in other countries. The defense minister said that Egypt is ready to cooperate with other Arab countries in the field of military industries. Egypt’s military production encompasses naval industries. Ministry of defense owns a naval arsenal, and a floating basin in Alexandria. Dubai Air Show 2007Latest developments in the Aviation World
Official reports estimate that the number of the participating companies in Dubai Air Show- 2007 will reach 900 exhibitors from 47 countries. The covered area of the show will occupy 35,000 m2. The show included 11 suites, 90 chalets, with more than 100 planes in its open area. These numbers represent some 40% increase over the numbers of Dubai Airshow-2005. The show that was held between 11 and 15 November included 130 new exhibiters coming from 24 countries. The UAE is an important regional and international touristic destination. It hosts what would be in a few years the largest Air show in the world. Dubai Air Show will be moved to Jabal Ali Airport, soon after finishing the first phase of the project in 2009. The new airport will be able to receive the flood of visitors and tourists that are growing in numbers at high rates.
Following are some expected events: Leasing: Dubai Aerospace Enterprise will start leasing airplanes soon. The Typhoon Deal: No doubt that Saudi Arabian – British deal to buy 72 Typhoon Mod-2 fighter planes (specialized in air supremacy, and have some bombing abilities) will be the star of the show. BAE Systems Company, and its ally, the Aerospatiale European company (EADS), and the Italian company Alenia, would be proud of the deal whose value is estimated at 9 Billion dollar. Typhoon planes will replace Tiger F-E/F fighter strikers, and some Tornado IDS air defense planes. Commercial Aircrafts: Boeing is pursuing, recently, a plan to return to Middle Eastern markets. The plan succeeded in recovering some markets. The company is aiming to secure purchase orders for its new family B-787 DreamLiner, while Airbus, its main opponent, obtained confirmed purchase orders for its A-350, from the Gulf air carriers. Both B-787 and A-350 are fuel efficient, and capable of flying longer distances. Both types will replace B-767, A330, A340, in the medium run. Some reports talked about a derivative of A-350, which is capable of challenging the successful B-777, the popular plane in the Arab World. Dubai Air Show will include some air defense short-range systems, SHORAD, and the very short range, V.SHORAD missiles. The number of UAV producers will exceed 30 producers, which highlights the importance of this sector year after year. UAE established a research and technology center for UAVs. RUSSIAN DEFENFSE INDUSTRIES
Russia hosted the eighth Aerospatiale show MAKS, which was held in Moscow area. The show started on 23 August, continued for four days. General Manager of Rosoboronexport, Mr. Sergey Chemezov highlighted the new role of Russia’s biggest exporter of arms and systems. Following are the main points of the interview.
We are going to build new facilities for the show, and we will enhance the new center’s infrastructure. New hotels and roads would be built. MiG and SU families of jet fighters are the backbones of Russian Aerospatiale exports. The planes are major ingredients in the air forces of many countries. A MiG fighter plane participated in an Indian competition. High Indian military officers were impressed by the performance of MIG-29 K/KUB. Navies of Gulf States:New Procurement Plans
Naval fleets of the Gulf States operate separately. These fleets are reinforced with naval air force consisting of armed helicopters equipped with Exocet missiles. Iran is considered a probable enemy, but the balance of naval powers is not in its favour. Although Iran has hundreds of armed boats, which are capable of launching a guerrilla war, the Saudi naval force has strong deterrent capabilities. Saudi Arabia has a modern and strong naval fleet consisting of 7 frigates, 4 small frigates, 9 small speed boats, 56 surveillance and patrol boats, seven minesweepers, and eight landing ships. It has coastal defence systems consisting of 4 rocket batteries, and 6 helicopters. Saudi Arabia intends to buy ten NA-90, and four Panther helicopters (used for search and rescue missions). The plan includes acquiring new multi role frigates. United Arab Emirates: Emirates has a strong fleet capable of defending a wide range of naval interests. The Navy will acquire Al-Baynouna small frigates, which will replace the existing ‘Abu Dhabi’ frigates. UAE has a fleet of two frigates, tens of boats. The navy has its own air force, consisting of five helicopters equipped with anti-marine rockets. Sultanate of Oman: The Sultanate occupies a strategic position as it overlooks Hermes strait, the strategic oil tankers passage. Oman has great responsibility in defending oil routes, so it will acquire new frigates by the next decade. Kuwait: The country relying upon rocket boats in order to defend a narrow and crowded water area. Kuwait has no plans to acquire large warships; speed boats are its main naval force. Bahrain: This kingdom has a 161 Km of coast, and it plans to modernize its naval force. Bahraini navy has a large frigate “Sabha”, two small frigates, 4 rocket-equipped attack boats, in addition to tens of patrol boats. In conclusion we can say that the Gulf navies are capable of defending the coasts of the Gulf. Twenty frigates and tens of rocket equipped boats, and 44 combat helicopters, make a large and capable naval force. Paris Air Show 2007:Competition between Giants
Paris air show is an outstanding event to all Aerospatiale companies worldwide. Le Bourget airport hosted an unprecedented number of participants (1940), ranging from producers to part producers of airplanes, and Aerospatiale systems from all over the world. The competition between Boeing and Airbus was evident in the show. Boeing is marketing its new B787 (Dream liner) generation, while Airbus is marketing its A350. The Russians introduced the Sukhoi regional Super 100, and Tupolive. Fierce competition was noticed in the field of business jets. The largest jet in the show was Airbus 380 super jumbo, with its 550 seats. This jet won 160 orders. The smallest plane was the French made APM 20 Lionceau. The most modern plane was American-Italian made Ba609 Tiltrotor, with its vertical takeoff and landing before tilting its engines horizontally.
The military set of planes included EADS made NH 90 helicopter, and the Russian MiG-35, the newest member of MiG-29 family, and the American Boeing fighter Super Hornet F/A-18F. The most prominent passenger planes were: The Brazilian EMB190 (Embraer), Boeing Family of planes mainly B777 (longest in length and range), The Airbus family, mainly A330, Russian Antonov An-148, French Dassault business jet Falcon 7x. In the first day of the show a historical deal was signed between Qatar Airways and Airbus. Qatar Airways placed an order to buy 80 Extra Wide Body A350 XWB; three more super jumbo A380, and two A320. Boeing revealed that its Dream liner would be 50% carbon, with fuel savings of 20%, and low noise at landing. EADS introduced the new UAV, EADS Sharc. An agreement was signed between “Mubadala Abu Dhabi” and Boeing in order to establish a consortium in order to develop the Aerospatiale strategy in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The agreement calls to establish a research and development center. The agreement was signed in the context of Paris Air Show in 18 June. A partnership between Eurocopter, and Korean Aerospatiale Industries, in order to build a new combat helicopter was signed in the show. New Combat Aircrafts for Arab Air forces
The most prominent new comers to the skies of the Arab world are Typhoon, MiG-29 SMT, and Sukhoi-27/30. It is noticed that most Arab air forces are ageing, with the exception of the Gulf States.
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Oct 07 - Nov 07 |
