Egypt, 4 European countries conduct main phase of the joint “Medusa-15” exercise

The main phase of the joint “Medusa-15” exercise was conducted in Greece following several days of activities, in the presence of Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Ahmed Khalifa, Chief of the Hellenic National  Defence General Staff Dimitrios Houpis, Commander of the Cyprus National Guard Emmanuel Theodorou, and commanders of the armed forces of the participating countries, as well as the Egyptian and French ambassadors to Greece.

The exercise involved personnel from the naval and air forces, air defense, border guards, reconnaissance units and special forces, including Egypt’s paratroopers and commandos, alongside forces from Greece, Cyprus, France and Italy.

The main phase began with a presentation aboard the Egyptian helicopter carrier “Gamal Abdel Nasser,” covering all activities and events conducted during the exercise.

This was followed by training activities, including multi-role aircraft conducting offensive and defensive combat sorties against hostile targets in coordination with Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) to accurately direct airstrikes.

Paratroopers also conducted parachute drops to secure the beachhead, as well as a flag-bearing free-fall jump, demonstrating the high level of professionalism and coordination among the participating forces.

Training activities also included the boarding and inspection of a suspected vessel, while special forces conducted a raid on coastal targets.

This was followed by an amphibious operation to seize vital objectives using landing craft carried aboard the Egyptian helicopter carrier and transporting special forces from the participating countries.

Attack helicopters provided fire support to secure the approach corridor for the landing craft.

Special forces also conducted a vertical assault operation, demonstrating their ability to conduct joint operations efficiently and effectively.

The activities concluded with sailing formations and a final air force display.

Previous phases of the exercise featured a number of training activities, including non-standard live-fire exercises by participating naval vessels. Special forces also conducted non-standard firing exercises and trained to assault facilities.

Reconnaissance units carried out training activities involving the use of swarms of explosive drones to target the movement of hostile naval vessels.

Border Guard personnel exchanged expertise in surveillance, monitoring and dealing with illegal maritime activities. A cybersecurity training course was also conducted to train participants in confronting modern electronic challenges and threats.