Amid escalating global security challenges, the Egyptian Armed Forces continues to reaffirm its pioneering role and ability to build highly qualified and professional military officers capable of countering all potential threats.
A notable manifestation of this is the Armed Forces’ success in developing a sophisticated integrated training system led by the Armed Forces Training Authority (AFTA), which plays a central role in preparing, organising, and supervising major joint military exercises, including the well-known “Bright Star” series.
Since it was launched in 1980 as a collaboration between Egypt and the US, the biennial Bright Star exercise has undergone major advances both in the size of the participating forces and in the diversity of its operational scenarios.
Forty-four countries are taking part in the current 2025 edition, testifying to the growth of international confidence in Egypt as a regional hub for multinational military training.
This type of multinational exercise is “much more than a series of conventional military drills. It is a platform for exchanging expertise, enhancing interoperability, and strengthening international partnerships,” AFTA Chief and Major General (Staff) Sherif Al-Arayshi told Al-Ahram Weekly.
“Bright Star also embodies the strength of the strategic relationship between Egypt and the US, which spans over 45 years. At the same time, it reflects Egypt’s strategic wisdom and determination to address security challenges from a position of strength and deterrence capability.”
The Bright Star exercises are hosted at the Mohamed Naguib Military Base. The largest military base in the Middle East, this can accommodate over 8,000 military personnel and is equipped for a variety of integrated land, naval, and air training.
Al-Arayshi described the base as “a comprehensive platform for the highest level of joint training” and one providing advanced logistical and technological support in line with the requirements of modern warfare.
The Armed Forces attaches great importance to integrating emerging challenges into training. For this reason, the Bright Star programme includes specialised workshops on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and drones, as well as international law.
“Today’s fighters must combine combat efficacy with ethical and legal awareness. The Armed Forces’ attention to this reinforces its credibility and commitment to international law,” Al-Arayshi said.
Bright Star drills are very diverse, ranging from live-fire exercises, detecting and dismantling improvised explosive devices, and various drone exercises to medical aid and evacuation, and naval and aerial manoeuvres to control and secure an operational theatre.
Female personnel also take part in the exercises, generally in the medical and psychological fields. This is just one facet of the attention given to role diversity and effective human-resource allocation across the various fields of military operations.
According to the AFTA chief, the exercise currently being carried out at the Mohamed Naguib and other Egyptian bases conveys multiple messages.
Foremost among them, it confirms Egypt’s ability to manage the largest military exercise in the Middle East with high efficiency, underscores the growing closeness of the Egyptian-American strategic partnership, and reinforces Egypt’s position as a regional power with the capacity to promote regional security and stability.
“Bright Star 2025 is not just a military exercise,” Al-Arayshi said. “It is a strategic approach, adopted by the Egyptian Armed Forces, for developing joint combat concepts and keeping pace with the evolution of modern warfare.”
“Through these training activities, Egypt shows that it is situated at the heart of the military equilibrium in the region and that it is an effective power regionally and internationally, contributing its ability to combine combat professionalism with strategic vision.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 25 September, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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