Egypt’s Defense Industry: Dependency, Civilian Production, and Attempts at Autonomy
Abstract
Egypt’s defense industry is the oldest and largest in the Arab world. However, most of its military factories have converted into manufacturing consumer goods to the civilian market for profit. Meanwhile, they continue to produce traditional weapon systems that mostly do not respond to urgent needs to combat terrorism in asymmetric warfare. In addition, Egypt is largely dependent on U.S. firms for procurement and co-production. After a political crisis in 2013, the Ministry of Military Production (MoMP) has attempted to revive defense production through new co-production initiatives with international arms firms. The country also attempts to reduce its dependence on the U.S. by seeking procurement from other states such as France, Russia, and Germany. Such efforts remain noticeably limited, because the Egyptian military still focuses on its civilian business enterprises.
Repository Citation
Abul-Magd, Zeinab. 2021. "Egypt’s Defense Industry: Dependency, Civilian Production, and Attempts at Autonomy." All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace 10(1): 59-80.
Publisher
Center for Foreign Policy & Peace Research
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Publication Title
All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy and Peace
Department
History
Additional Department
Middle East and North Africa Studies
Document Type
Article
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.631010
Keywords
Egypt, Defense industries, Military business enterprises
Language
English
Format
text
