Egypt and the Soviet Union have reached a new arms agreement which will bring Cairo two or possibly three additional submarines, it was reported in the press here today.
The reports are based on a statement by Vice Admiral Suleiman Eizzat, Chief of Staff of Egypt’s Navy, who revealed that his country would soon receive new warships from a foreign power. Adm. Eizzat did not name the foreign power, but he made the announcement upon his return from a trip to Moscow. Foreign sources in Cairo asserted that the Russian subs were already en route to Alexandria, Egypt’s chief naval base.
The Egyptian Navy is known to include several underseas craft, four destroyers-two obtained from the USSR and two from Britain–nine frigates and a dozen mine-sweepers as well as smaller vessels. The Red Sea flotilla has been rehabilitated after the beating it absorbed during the Sinai attack by Britain and France and is now using a newly constructed base at Gardaka near Suez. Its former base at Sharm el Sheikh is occupied by troops of the United Nations Emergency Force.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
