MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax) - The Defenders of Friendship 2021 joint tactical exercise of Russian and Egyptian paratroopers, which has been held since October 17 and involved military transport aircraft of the two countries, has ended near Cairo, the press service for the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
The closing ceremony took place at the base of the Egyptian Airborne Forces near the town of Inshas, 60 kilometers east of the Egyptian capital.
The ceremony was attended by Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces Col. Gen. Andrei Serdyukov and Commander of the Egyptian Airborne Forces Divisional Gen. Atif Ibrahim Mady.
Serdyukov thanked the commander of the Egyptian Airborne Forces "for the excellent organization of the joint exercise" and the paratroopers "for their training, courage, bravery, and high level of preparation."
"We will definitely continue our cooperation, and next year, we will hold the same exercise in the Russian Federation," he said.
For his part, the Egyptian general said that the Defenders of Friendship 2021 exercise achieved all its goals.
"Now that it's over, we will study all the positives so that the upcoming one in Russia will be even better," Mady said. "I also promise the Russian paratroopers that the next Defenders of Friendship in Egypt will be much better," he said
A "friendship jump" on "wing-type" guided parachutes with the national flags of Russia and Egypt and the flags of the Russian and Egyptian airborne forces was performed on the premises of the Egyptian Airborne Brigade.
This was the fifth Defenders of Friendship tactical exercise conducted by Russian and Egyptian forces.
It involved over 500 paratroopers from both countries, as well as Ilyushin Il-76MD planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Boeing C-130 Hercules and C-295 Casa aircraft, Chinook, Commando, and Mil Mi-17 helicopters of the Egyptian Air Force, and Hummer and TGL army jeeps.
Russian and Egyptian paratroopers first practiced joint tactical actions near the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 2016. In 2017, the joint exercise was held at the base of the Novorossiysk Guards Airborne Assault Mountain Formation of the Russian Airborne Forces in the Krasnodar Territory. In 2018 in Egypt, participants in the joint exercise honed their skills at a training range of the airborne formation near Cairo. In 2019, for the first time, servicemen of the Special Operations Forces of the Belarusian Armed Forces took part in the joint exercise. The exercise took place at the Dubrovichi range of the Tula Guards Airborne Unit in the Ryazan region.