Egypt–United States military cooperation

Egypt–United States military cooperation
Name	Egypt–United States military cooperation
Established	1948

Contents

Egypt–United States military cooperation is a long-standing strategic relationship involving defense assistance, arms transfers, joint training, basing arrangements, and intelligence sharing between Egypt and the United States. Rooted in Cold War alignments and the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the relationship has evolved through wars such as the Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War, and the Yom Kippur War, and through diplomatic milestones including the Camp David Accords and the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. Cooperation spans partnerships with institutions like the United States Department of Defense, the United States Department of State, the United States Congress, the Egyptian Armed Forces, and multilateral frameworks involving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and regional partners such as Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Historical background

U.S.–Egypt defense ties developed during the Cold War as the Eisenhower Administration and the Kennedy administration responded to Egyptian alignment efforts under Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Baghdad Pact dynamics, and the nationalization of the Suez Canal Company. After the 1967 Six-Day War, the bilateral relationship shifted toward mediation led by the United Nations and the Soviet Union's influence in the region. The 1973 Yom Kippur War precipitated intensified U.S. engagement under Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy, culminating in the Camp David Accords brokered by Jimmy Carter and negotiated by Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. Following Sadat’s assassination and Hosni Mubarak's rise, the relationship stabilized into a security partnership marked by large-scale U.S. military assistance and the stationing of U.S. naval assets in the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and the 2013 removal of Mohamed Morsi, Congress, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the House Armed Services Committee debated aid modifications while the Pentagon continued counterterrorism cooperation against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant affiliates.

Key legal frameworks include the 1979 Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty trilateral dynamics, U.S. foreign assistance statutes administered under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and status arrangements negotiated with the United States European Command and the United States Central Command. Bilateral memoranda of understanding have governed Foreign Military Financing under the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and export controls overseen by the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. Agreements affecting maritime access reference conventions such as the Montego Bay Convention in practice, while episodic logistics accords invoked the authority of the Mutual Defense Assistance Act and executive agreements under successive presidents including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.

Since the late 1970s, Egypt has been a principal recipient of Foreign Military Financing and Foreign Military Sales managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the Defense Logistics Agency. Major procurements have included platforms manufactured by Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon Technologies Corporation, and Northrop Grumman, and upgrades via General Electric engines and Rolls-Royce plc components. Deliveries encompassed F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, M1 Abrams tanks, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, Patriot systems, and naval craft. Aid packages combined military grants with economic assistance under programs implemented by the United States Agency for International Development and authorized by appropriations from the United States Congress and overseen by the Secretary of State.

Egyptian units and personnel have participated in multinational exercises such as Bright Star, cohosted with the United States Central Command and rotating partners including United Kingdom Armed Forces, France, and Saudi Arabia. Training exchanges have utilized institutions like the United States Naval War College, the United States Army War College, the National Defense University (United States), and the Naval Postgraduate School. Professional military education programs involved the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, funded by the Department of State, and bilateral enablers such as the Security Assistance Training Management Organization. Special operations cooperation connected the United States Special Operations Command with the Egyptian Special Forces Command in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism curricula.

While Egypt does not host large permanent U.S. bases akin to those in Germany or Japan, strategic access has been negotiated for naval and air operations in the Suez Canal approaches, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Port visits by ships of the United States Sixth Fleet and Fifth Fleet have used Egyptian facilities at Alexandria, Sokhna Port, and Ain Sokhna; air logistics have used airports including Cairo International Airport and Mersa Matruh. Coordination with the United States Africa Command has addressed forward staging, overflight rights, and logistics under status of forces arrangements and transient access agreements.

Cooperation has targeted threats from ISIS affiliates, Al-Qaeda, and Sinai-based insurgent cells tied to Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, with intelligence sharing involving the Central Intelligence Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Egyptian security directorates. Partnerships extended to border security with Israel under the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty mechanisms, maritime security with the International Maritime Organization and coalition partners, and initiatives against weapons proliferation involving the International Atomic Energy Agency. Egypt’s role in mediating between Hamas and Israel and contributing to stabilization efforts in Libya and Sudan has intersected with U.S. diplomatic and defense priorities.

U.S. assistance has been subject to scrutiny by congressional actors including the House Foreign Affairs Committee and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Debates have focused on allegations of abusive practices by Egyptian security services implicated in reports by the United Nations Human Rights Council and the State Department's annual human rights reports. Legislative responses included conditionalities under the Leahy Law, temporary suspensions linked to actions after the 2013 political transition, and debates over the release of withheld Foreign Military Financing. Oversight hearings have involved testimony from officials from the Department of Defense, the Department of State, human rights advocates, and regional experts from institutions like the Brookings Institution and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.