Joint UAE-Egypt military exercise ends

The UAE and Egyptian armed forces concluded today their joint military exercises, codenamed 'Zayed-1'. The joint training is the first of its kind in terms of number and size of units taking part.The joint exercises were attended by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, His Highness General Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Field Marshall Abdul Fattah Al Sisi, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of Egypt and HRH Prince Salman bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Defence Minister of Saudi Arabia.The exercises aimed at strengthening historic and strategic ties between the two countries as well as boosting operational readiness of the different units of the two forces.Present were H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, H.H. Sheikh Dhiyab bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.A debriefing was made about the exercises' three phases, starting with the arrival of the Egyptian forces to the UAE, and followed by the specialized training and the practical drills, which were performed with live ammunition.Key to the exercises was the deployment of F-16, Mirage 2000 and Mirage 2000/9 fighters, naval ships and frigates, artillery units, assault and transport helicopters, naval and mechanized infantry, special forces and paratroopers.Also present were Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, Humaid bin Mohammed Obaid Al Qattami, Minister of Education, Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed Al Owais, Minister of Health, Dr. Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Hadef bin Jowan Al Dhahiri, Minister of Justice, Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy, Dr. Abdullah bin Mohammed Belhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State, Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State, Ahmed Juma Al Za'abi, Deputy Minister for Presidential Affairs, Mohamed Ahmed Al Bowardi, Under Secretary of Defence Ministry, Saif Sultan Al Aryani, Secretary General of the Supreme National Security Council, Lt. General Hamad Mohamed Thani Al Romaithi, Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman, Director General of Dubai Protocol and Hospitality Department and a number of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council members.Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Field Marshall Al Sisi and Prince Salman bin Sultan greeted the officers, non commissioned officers and personnel taking part in the exercises and congratulated them on the outstanding performance.