CAIRO - The
Defense and Military Industries Exhibition "EDEX", which was recently hosted by Cairo, represented a great opportunity for Egypt to present its military industry on the international stage, in light of the assertions - it could not be verified from independent sources - that the proportion of local production of the Ministry of Military Production Not less than 70%, and most close to 100%.
Egypt organized the second edition of "EDEX" during the period from November 29 to December 2, with the participation of 386 companies from 42 countries, including the United States, France and Russia, and about 40 military leaders, after hosting the first edition of the exhibition at the end of 2018, knowing that it is also scheduled to host its third edition at the end of 2022.
According to the exhibition's official website, EDEX is the largest event in the military industries sector in Egypt and the African continent, and brings together major local and international companies in the fields of defense and armament (land, sea and air).
The official page of the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production quoted a number of praises from foreign guests participating in the exhibition, and talked about agreements to localize modern manufacturing technology that were concluded with a number of countries on the sidelines of the exhibition.
However, there is a prominent dilemma regarding the difficult opportunities and challenges faced by the Egyptian military industrialization, which was that although the Egyptian pavilion represents 15% of the total EDEX exhibits, and it offers more than one weapon that keeps pace with modern technology such as a homemade drone, a robot to detect mines and a variety of ammunition and launchers, these The squad did not live up to the quality of heavy armament such as planes, tanks and missiles.
This reference raised questions about the reasons for the inability to develop local military production compared to international arsenals, despite Egypt's large military power in the region.
In addition, the Egyptian military industrialization is surrounded by great secrecy, which leaders and officials usually associate with national security considerations. Exorbitant armament deals are at the fore in various media platforms, while military industrialization efforts receive less media attention.
Based on press reports, research papers, and writings of specialists in military affairs, Al Jazeera Net monitors the most prominent Egyptian ambitions in the field of military industrialization and the reality they encounter, as well as discussing the idea of absenting civilian oversight over military projects.
integrated plan
In televised statements last Thursday, Minister of State for Military Production, Mohamed Ahmed Morsi, said that the percentage of local production in the ministry's products is not less than 70%, and there are products that are close to 100%.
Morsi revealed the opening of a new production line for the 7.62 x 51 mm multi-machine gun, as all its parts are produced in the 300 military factory, and there is a hexagon launcher 100% of local production, and Egypt has also started producing types of heavy ammunition for the first time, such as 155 mm artillery ammunition 155 SABO ammunition for operational training.
The minister touched on his country's efforts towards Arab integration and the signing of military cooperation agreements with countries, including the UAE, to benefit from marketing expertise and supply chains.
EDEX 2021, according to the Egyptian minister, represents an opportunity for Egyptian researchers to learn about the latest weapons technologies in the world.
In late 2020, local press reports revealed that the Ministry of State for Military Production had drawn up an integrated plan to develop the military industrial system worth 7.3 billion pounds (the dollar is less than 16 pounds), to meet the needs of the armed forces during the period from 2020 to 2030, and direct the surplus to export in the period from 2025 to 2030.
The plan includes deepening local industrialization, increasing the role of technical research, establishing cooperation with international companies, and completing the development and rehabilitation of production lines.
The plan aims to develop production lines for explosives and munitions of all kinds and components.
The future vision includes launching an integrated medium-range air defense system, producing an Egyptian tank, and designing and manufacturing an armored combat vehicle protection system.
Aspirations collide with reality
Despite the great Egyptian endeavors and aspirations to benefit from the international armament markets in displaying its local industry, the international exhibitions, including EDEX, may not live up to the ambitions and expectations that the government is talking about, for several reasons:
The weapons that appeared at EDEX 2018 and 2021 came to meet local needs, rather than compete seriously in the global arms markets.
This reinforced the contentment with the Egyptian national defense companies providing new products, which did not include the main weapons of aircraft, tanks and missiles, although the Sinai 2000 armored vehicle appeared, as well as the multiple machine guns.
In a precedent that is the first of its kind, the first Egyptian drone called "Not" was presented during the exhibition, and it will be used for tactical reconnaissance and information gathering, and it is equipped with an optical/TV camera.
Press reports doubted that it is a 100% local industry, due to reasons including that most countries of the world cannot manufacture any complete military product without foreign components, as happened previously with the crisis of the French “Rafale” fighters imported by Egypt, when Washington placed a ban on supplying them. The US SCALP EG missile.
Cairo had previously contracted with countries, including Belarus, to locally manufacture drones.
Besides Israel, Egypt was one of only two countries in the region with significant arms production capacity, but Cairo relied mainly on the licensed assembly of Western products and the manufacture of Cold War-era weapons in Soviet factories.
Most of these factories were then either converted into weapons maintenance and repair facilities, or were reused to produce civilian products.
settlement endeavors
Historically, the Egyptian military industrialization witnessed zigzag growth curves since the fifties of the last century.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Egypt experienced rapid growth when the regime of former President Gamal Abdel Nasser received support from the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
During 1967 and 1973, the Arab-Israeli wars affected the growth of Egyptian military industries.
In the 1980s, domestic armament technology experienced another period of expansion, this time on Western grounds with American support.
This period represented the beginning of Egypt's dependence on US military funding (it benefited from the aid provided to rebuild the Egyptian army after the peace treaty with Israel).
During the past three decades, that industry deteriorated again, as the military factories stagnated as a result of changing local, regional and international conditions.
In the summer of 2013, Egypt faced a crisis with the continuation of Western arms imports following the army's overthrow of the late President Mohamed Morsi, and Western circles considered the matter an unofficial "military coup".
In the last seven years, political and regional conditions imposed the control of the army on the state, at a time when military factories did not move towards serious industrialization, and turned on a large scale to produce consumer goods.
This was followed by the military establishment investing in the establishment of private business companies to manufacture strategic goods, after the military companies enjoyed wide privileges that allowed them to have a monopoly position in several sectors.
Cairo has tended to diversify the (European and other eastern) armament markets, and seek new joint production agreements to reduce Western dependence, according to a previous report by the Stockholm International Research Institute.
It does not seem that these attempts have yielded significant results on the ground.
Indicators and numbers
According to the latest update of the classifications of unofficial military capabilities, the "Global Firepower" website put the Egyptian army in the 13th place after it was in the ninth place globally, despite the huge military deals it has concluded in recent years.
Despite the decline, it is still the most powerful Arab army in the region, but it is second only to Turkey in the Middle East.
The Egyptian army owns 1,053 warplanes, including 250 fighters and 88 attack aircraft, and 304 helicopters, including 91 attack helicopters.
The ground forces consist of 3,735 tanks, 11,000 armored vehicles, more than 1,165 self-propelled guns, 2,200 field artillery, and 1,235 rocket launchers.
He owns a naval fleet consisting of 316 naval units, including two helicopter carriers, 9 frigates, 7 corvettes, 8 submarines, 50 patrol ships and 23 minesweepers.
The number of its military forces is one million and 330 thousand soldiers, including 480 thousand soldiers in the reserve forces.
The defense budget amounts to 10 billion dollars, and Egypt has foreign currency and gold reserves equal to 35 billion and 890 million dollars.