Egypt’s military-industrial complex has enjoyed burgeoning growth since the last decade owing to sustained government support, and a need to keep the military forces modernized and in top fighting shape. Cairo has developed its local defence and security industry that produces a range of products from small arms to armoured vehicles and naval vessels. The local industry has successfully signed co-production agreements with quite many countries, including the United States and France.

While the Egyptian armed forces are the largest in the region at approximately 865,500 personnel, much of the equipment used is quite dated, and quite a lot of its military equipment was destroyed during the 1973 October war. Thus, there was a need to modernise the Egyptian armed forces up to modern standards. Source