Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday inaugurated the new ‘3 July’ naval base in Gargoub on the country’s northwestern coast near Libya.
Egypt said the 3 July base will help it protect strategic and economic interests as well as helping guard against irregular migration as it boosts its naval presence on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
At the inauguration, 47 naval vessels were commissioned, including a GOWIND corvette, two Italian FREMM frigates, a ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Type 209 submarine, and dozens of small boats. Two Mistral helicopter carriers acquired from France were on display alongside a single recently delivered Lurssen 60 metre offshore patrol vessel and nine Lurssen OPB-40 patrol boats. It also emerged that Egypt is operating Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters from its Mistral class LHDs, together with AW149 medium lift helicopters.