Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt has concluded a major military exercise meant to
defend against Israel.

The U.S.-equipped Egyptian military held a multi-service exercise earlier this month to defend the Sinai Peninsula and Suez Canal. The live-fire exercise, called Nasser-6, consisted of three stages and was meant to test
interoperability, particularly between the Army and Air Force.

“What we saw today in the exercise was accurate fire and operational efficiency that generate confidence,” Egyptian commander-in-chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi said on Jan. 17 during a visit to the exercise.

The maneuvers, led by Egypt’s 2nd Army and said to have been the largest exercise since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, began with an alert of an enemy strike from the east, presumably Israel.

Commanders deployed U.S.-origin F-16 multi-role fighters to patrol the 60,000-square-kilometer Sinai for any sign of enemy troops.

Tantawi said Nasser-6 was meant to counter any external threat. The
field marshal, head of the military regime and pressed by the opposition to
step down, said Egypt was facing unprecedented dangers.

During Nasser-6, Egypt also tested interoperability between the air
force and air defense. U.S.- and Russian-origin mobile air defense systems
were deployed to support Egyptian air combat missions and target enemy
aircraft.

At the same time, the Egyptian Army, backed by U.S.-origin M1A1 main
battle tanks, anti-tank missile squads and artillery, staged assaults on
enemy positions in Sinai. The operations included air defense cover to
intercept enemy helicopters, fighter-jets and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Gen. Mohammed Hegazy, chief of staff of the 2nd Army, said Nasser-6 also
contained a scenario in which Israel attacked the Suez
Canal as well as the African mainland. Hegazy said the scenario called for a
response by Egyptian combat aircraft and air defense systems.

The exercise took place amid increasing Israeli concern of the
transformation of Sinai into a launching pad for attacks against the Jewish
state. The U.S. Congress has been quietly examining the insurgency threat in
Sinai as well as the prospect of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt, which
receives $1.3 billion in annual American military assistance.

  Egypt concludes major exercise to defend Suez, F-16 multi-role fighters, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Gen. Mohammed Hegazy, Hosni Mubarak, Muslim Brotherhood, Nasser-6, Sinai against attack from the East, Sinai Peninsula, Suez Canal