First ever Pak-Egypt joint air drill wraps up in Cairo

RAWALPINDI: The first-ever Pakistan-Egypt two-week-long joint air defence exercise “Sky Guards-1” concluded in Cairo, Egypt, according to an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) news release issued here on Friday.

According to the statement, Commander Army Air Defence Command Lieutenant General Hamood Uz Zaman Khan witnessed the final phase of live firing exercise and closing ceremony of the Sky Guards-1.

The troops of Pakistan Army Air Defence, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Defence and Egyptian Air Defence Forces participated in the first-ever exercise of this kind.

The two-week-long exercise was focused on the integration, synchronisation, information gathering, interoperability and decision-making of committing the air defence assets in a battle to offer an aggressive and prompt response to hostile air threat.

The chief guest also witnessed live fire of different weapons—including fire of Igla missile by Pakistan Army Air Defence and Crotale missile by PAF Air Defence.

Lt Gen Zaman Khan lauded the professionalism of participating troops and emphasised the need for getting abreast with emerging trends and techniques. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Egypt Sajid Bilal, Director General Air Operations PAF Air Vice Marshal Abdul Moeed Khan, Observer Brigadier General Emad Hagi from Bahrain and a large number of military officials from the two countries attended the ceremony.