Military of Egypt

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Military of Egypt

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Military manpower

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Military age 18 years of age for conscript military service; 3-year service obligation (2001)

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Availabilitymales age 18-49: 18,347,560 (2005)

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Fit for military servicemales age 18-49: 15,540,234(2005)

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Reaching military age annually males: 802,920 (2005)

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Active troops 450,000 (Ranked 12th)

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Military expenditures

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Dollar figure $2.44 billion (2003)

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Percent of GDP 3.4% (2004)

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The armed forces of Egypt is among the largest in the region, it consists of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Command. The armed forces inventory includes equipment from the United States, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the former Soviet Union, and the People's Republic of China. Equipment from the former Soviet Union is being progressively replaced by more modern American, French, and British equipment, a significant portion of which is built under license in Egypt. To bolster stability and moderation in the region, Egypt has provided military assistance and training to a number of African and Arab states. Egypt remains a strong military and strategic partner of NATO. Egypt is the strongest military power in Africa, and the second largest in the Middle East, after Israel. (Source Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies' annual Middle East Strategic Balance).

Related Topics:
Egypt - Egyptian Army - Egyptian Navy - Egyptian Air Force - Egyptian Air Defense Command - United States - France - Italy - United Kingdom - Soviet Union - People's Republic of China

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Egypt maintains a large paramilitary force under the control of the Ministry of Interior. They number around 250,000 strong and are known as the Central Security Forces. The government also has a relatively strong National Guard and Border Security Forces however they unlike the Central Security Forces come under the control of the Minstry of Defence and are reported to be number 60,000 and 20,000 respectively.

Related Topics:
Central Security Forces

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The Egyptian military can only be understood by relative comparision to a nation it has fought nearly all of its wars with, Israel. The comparative military capabilities of two nations where one is developing and the other is developed is not as simple as glancing towards the military budget expressed in U.S. dollars. If for e.g. two nations have the same defence budget and spend it totally on foreign arms purchases they will both purchase exactly the same quantity. The complicating factor is that for a developing country the cost to purchase labour is usually much lower than it is in a developed country. Therefore if Egypt and Israel spent the same amount on defence which is used totally on recruiting soldiers, Egypt would field a bigger army than Israel. In essence money spent for foreign purchases are equal, but money spent on local arms and recruitment favour the country of lower cost of purchases. Therefore Egypt finds it comparitively cheaper to field a larger army than purchasing foreign equipment. Egypt does not have a superior military force than Israel for the simple reason that they spend only $2.5 billion U.S.D. as opposed to $10 billion spent by Israel. The lower recruitment cost advantage of the Egyptians is simply insufficient to overcome the much greater expenditure by Israel.

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