Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and Minister of Defence and Military Production, Lieutenant General Ashraf Salem Zaher, and Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Ahmed Khalifa, held a series of meetings with senior military officials on the sidelines of the opening of the second edition of the El Alamein International Airshow (EIAS 2026).
The show is being held in El Alamein from September 8 to 10 under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.
As part of his engagements, the defence chief met Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence and Veterans Affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Guy Kabombo Mwadiamvita, Somali Minister of Defence Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, Tanzanian Minister of Defence and National Service Dr Remu Simon Nyansaho, and Minister of National Defence and Veterans Affairs of the Central African Republic Ramou Claude Itat-Seville.
The meetings, attended by Lieutenant General Ahmed Khalifa and his counterparts, addressed matters of mutual interest and ways to strengthen military cooperation in various fields.
Separately, Lieutenant General Ahmed Khalifa met Chief-of-Staff of the UAE Armed Forces Lieutenant General Issa Saif bin Ablan Al Mazrouei and Chief of Staff of the Bahrain Defence Force Lieutenant General Theyab bin Saqr Abdullah Al Nuaimi.
Discussions focused on strengthening co-operation and exchanging expertise across various military fields during the coming period. The meetings were attended by commanders of the main branches, senior Armed Forces commanders and accompanying military delegations.
As part of the General Command’s field follow-up of the show, Lieutenant General Zaher toured its pavilions and visited a number of exhibiting companies to review organisational arrangements.
The chief of staff also inspected the pavilions and assessed the level of organisation and interaction between visitors and exhibitors.
Meanwhile, the Air Force organised the second scientific forum, entitled “The Future of Aviation and Space Technology”, at the Heritage City in New Alamein.
The forum brought together Minister of Civil Aviation, Sameh El-Hefny, senior military commanders, high-level delegations from brotherly and friendly countries, experts, specialists and representatives of major global aviation and space technology companies.
Discussions covered the future of aviation and space technology, the latest developments in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems, and opportunities and challenges facing the aviation, defence and space sectors stressing the Armed Forces’ commitment to keeping pace with rapid technological advances and describing the exhibition as a promising platform for people-to-people engagement and for exploring the latest in Africa and the Middle East.
During the exhibition, Lieutenant General Zaher conveyed President Sisi’s greetings and appreciation to Egypt’s guests and all participants, stressing the Armed Forces’ commitment to keeping pace with rapid technological advances and describing the exhibition as a promising platform for people-to-people engagement and for exploring the latest developments in aviation and space sciences.
