Although the Egyptian Navy was the smallest branch of the military, it is large by Middle Eastern standards. The navy's diverse and challenging missions included protection of more than 2,000 kilometers of coastline on the Mediterranean and Red seas, defense of approaches to the Suez Canal, and support for army operations.
The Coast Guard was responsible for the onshore protection of public installations near the coast and the patrol of coastal waters to prevent smuggling. Its inventory consisted of about thirty large patrol craft (each between twenty and thirty meters in length) and twenty smaller Bertram-class coastal patrol craft built in the United States.
The navy's main operational subdivisions were the destroyer, submarine, mine warfare, missile boat, and torpedo boat commands. The navy lacked its own air arm and depended on the air force for maritime reconnaissance and protection against submarines. The air force's equipment that supported the navy included twelve Gazelle and five Sea King helicopters mounted with antiship and antisubmarine missiles. In mid-1988 the air force also took delivery of the first of six Grumman Hawkeye E-2c aircraft with search and side-looking radar for maritime surveillance purposes. The Egyptian Navy has chosen the 60m, diesel-powered Ambassador Mk.III fast missile patrol craft; construction of the boats began in Spring 2001. Under the contract, Egypt would provide key weapons and sensors for the boats. Egypt already had the Ambassador patrol craft in service, but the new boats would contain an update in design meant to make the vessels more resistant to radar detection. The design was conducted with the assistance of Lockheed Martin. Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ...
Although the navy was the smallest branch of the military, it was large by Middle Eastern standards.
Navy headquarters and the main operational and training base were located at Ras at Tin near Alexandria.
During the 1956 War, Egyptian destroyers and torpedo boats engaged larger British vessels in a move aimed at undermining the amphibious operations of the British and French.
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