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The Armed Forces of Egypt are the regular armed forces of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Its current organizational structure consists of three main branches: the Navy, the Air Force, and the Air Defense Forces, which were previously joined by a separate command for the Land Forces on March 25, 1964, but was officially abolished after the 1967 war to return the command of the land formations to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces directly. The land formations are divided into the Eastern Canal forces, which fall under the command of the Second and Third Armies and the Central, Northern, Western, and Southern Military Regions, excluding other forces, agencies, administrations, and supporting devices.

All branches, forces, armies, regions, agencies, and administrations within the Armed Forces are subject to the command of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, who also assumes the position of Minister of Defense. Currently, this position is held by General/ Mohamed Zaki, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense and Military Production. He is not surpassed in the chain of command except by the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, who is the President of the Republic, currently Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The Higher Council of the Armed Forces consists of 23 members, chaired by the Commander-in-Chief and Minister of Defense, with the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces acting as his deputy. Membership includes: leaders of the main branches (air, sea, air defense), commanders of border guard forces, commanders of the Second and Third Armies, commanders of the Central, Northern, Western, and Southern Military Regions, heads of agencies for operations, equipment, supply, logistics, engineering, training, financial affairs, military justice, organization, administration, directors of the Departments of Officers' Affairs and Military Intelligence, Assistant Minister of Defense for Constitutional and Legal Affairs, and Secretary-General of the Ministry of Defense.

The armament of the Egyptian Armed Forces varies between Eastern and Western sources through mutual military cooperation with countries including the United States, Russia, France, China, Italy, Ukraine, and Britain. Many equipment is also manufactured locally in Egyptian war industries. The Egyptian Armed Forces celebrate their annual holiday on October 6th to commemorate the victories of the October War.

The Old Army

Historians agree that the formation of the Egyptians into regular military forces or with their current designation "the Armed Forces" dates back to the era of the Pharaohs, while differing in their treatment of subsequent historical periods. Some consider that the Egyptians did not use their forces for defense since the end of the Pharaonic era until the establishment by Muhammad Ali Pasha of a modern Egyptian army and his recruitment of Egyptians into it. Others see that whether the Egyptians participated primarily or not in these intermediate period armies, the goal of those regular or armed forces was to defend Egyptian territories and secure them from any external threat, thus falling under the name of the Egyptian Army or the Egyptian Armed Forces.

These historians also point out the intermixing of the Egyptian element with the Arab element after the Islamic conquest of Egypt and the exchange of military and administrative advantages between the two elements, as well as their later intermingling with the Turkish and Circassian elements.

The Pharaonic Era

The first regular army in the world was established in Egypt around 3400 BC, following the unification of King Mena of Egypt and his ascension to its throne. It became the strongest army in the world, thanks to which the Egyptians established the first empire in the world extending from Turkey northward to Somalia southward, and from Iraq eastward to Libya westward. That was the golden age of the Egyptian army.

The ancient Egyptian military presented many great leaders, including...