A group of the Egyptian Navy’s ships called at the port of Novorossiysk for the first time to participate in the Russia-Egypt Friendship Bridge-2020 naval exercise, the press office of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet reported on 17th November.
“The Egyptian naval group comprises the frigate Alexandria, the corvette El Fateh and the fast missile craft M. Fahmy. Chief of the Egyptian Navy’s Operations Department Rear Admiral Mahmoud Adel Mahmoud Faizi has been appointed as the commander of the naval exercise and the head of the delegation on Egypt’s behalf,” the press office said in a statement.
“After the mooring of the Egyptian and Russian naval forces, the commanders of the ships within the exercise’s command group paid an official visit to Commander of the Novorossiysk Naval Base Rear Admiral Viktor Kochemazov and the head of the Novorossiysk administration,” the statement says.
The crews of the ships participating in the joint naval exercise laid flowers at the Memorial on the Alley of Heroes, paying tribute to the soldiers who had died during the Soviet Union’s 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, the press office said.
The Russian-Egyptian Friendship Bridge-2020 drills are planned to run in Novorossiysk and at the Black Sea Fleet’s naval combat training ranges between November 17-24. The drills envisage the onshore and offshore phases that will be held in the Black Sea for the first time. The drills aim to strengthen and develop military cooperation between the Russian and Egyptian Navies in the interests of security and stability at sea and to exchange experience between the personnel in repelling various threats in the areas of intensive shipping, the statement says.
During the maneuvers, the Russian and Egyptian Navies will practice all types of ships’ protection and defense with firings against surface and air targets. Separate drills will be held to practice abeam replenishment at sea, measures to inspect suspicious vessels and render assistance to a ship in distress with the search for and the rescue of a drowning person, the press office said.
The Russian and Egyptian Navies have been holding Friendship Bridge drills since 2015.
