page_title: Egyptian Armed Forces
section_title: Air Force
hierarchical_section_title: Egyptian Armed Forces / Structure / Air Force
caption_attribution_description: English: egyptian F16c pilot during an exercise.
context_page_description: The Egyptian Armed Forces are the state military organisation responsible for the defense of Egypt. They consist of the Egyptian Army, Egyptian Navy, Egyptian Air Force and Egyptian Air Defense Forces.
  The President of the Republic serves as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, the senior uniformed officer, is Colonel General Mohamed Zaki, and the Chief of Staff is Lieutenant General. Mohammed Farid Hegazy.
  Senior members of the military can convene the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, such as during the course of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, when President Mubarak resigned and transferred power to this body on February 11, 2011.
  The armament of the Egyptian armed forces varies between eastern and western sources through weapons deliveries by several countries, led by the United States, Russia, France, China, Italy, Ukraine and Britain. Many of the equipment is manufactured locally at Egyptian factories. The Egyptian armed forces celebrate their anniversary on October 6 each year to commemorate the Crossing of the Suez during the October War of 1973.
context_section_description: The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. Currently, the backbone of the EAF is the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon. The Mirage 2000 is the other modern interceptor used by the EAF. The Egyptian Air Force has 216 F-16s (plus 20 on order). It has about 579 combat aircraft and 149 armed helicopters as it continues to fly extensively upgraded MiG-21s, F-7 Skybolts, F-4 Phantoms, Dassault Mirage Vs, and the C-130 Hercules among other planes.
  Egypt currently operates 24 Dassault Rafale a French twin-engine fighter aircraft as of 2019.
caption: An Egyptian F16C Pilot
exif: {}