Pakistan-Egypt: Air Defense Exercise “Sky Guards 1” Concludes

As per the Inter-Services Public Relations, the public relations wing of Pakistan Army, the Pakistan-Egypt Dual Air Defense Exercise Sky Guards-1′ ended with a live shooting rehearsal and a closing ceremony on Friday, June 4th in Cairo, Egypt. According to the military’s media arm, the Pakistan Army Air Defense, Pakistan Air Force Air Defense systems, and Egyptian Air Defense Forces all actively participated during the first practice of its sort. “The two-week training based on the implementation, coordination, intelligence collection, connectivity, and decision-making process of deploying air defense forces in a clash to enable an effective and rapid reaction to a hostile air threat,” according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan, Commanding officer of Army Air Defense Command, was the primary guest at the completion ceremony. The special guest also attended a live-fire exercise of several weaponry, including the Pakistan Army Air Defense’s Igla man-portable air-defense rocket and the Pakistan Air force Air Defense’s Crotale missile, as per the Inter-Services Public Relations. “Commanding officer Army Air Defense Command acknowledged the skills of participating troops and highlighted the need of staying current with developing trends and technologies,” according to the military’s press office.

The event was attended by the Pakistani Ambassador to Egypt Sajid Bilal, Air Vice Marshal Abdul Moeed Khan, Director General Air Operations Pakistan Air Force, Bahraini Visitor Brig-Gen Emad Hagi, and a considerable number of military personnel from both sides. According to the Public Relations wing of the Pakistani Army, Inter-Services Public Relations, the first-ever Pakistan-Egypt joint air defense exercise “SkyGuard-1,” 2021 was held in Egypt’s capital Cairo on Friday, May 28th. According to the military’s media arm, the two-week joint exercise was expected to increase military collaboration between the two nations in the face of present and new challenges in the air defense sector.

The launching ceremony was observed by Director General Joint Staff Headquarters Lieutenant General Muhammad Chirag Haider. Major General Mohamed Hagezy Abdel Mawgood, Egypt’s Chief of Air Defense, was also there, as were other senior military leaders from both nations. Muhammad Zaki, Egypt’s Minister of Defense and Military Production, came to Islamabad in February 2020 to consider strategies to raise military partnership between the two nations. Egypt and Pakistan agreed on February 17th to step up their counter-terrorism efforts. In Cairo, Pakistani Minister Of foreign affairs Shah Mahmoud Qureshi and his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry conducted a combined news conference. The Egyptian Army marked the opening of the “Sky Guard 1” exercise back in May, with Pakistani air defense personnel and their Egyptian counterparts taking part. “The maneuver has been performed for the first time in Egypt, and it will last after several days. This statement was made by Colonel Tamer Al Rifai, who is a spokesperson for the Egyptian Army.”