Soviet Military Personnel in Egypt Estimated at 20,000

A ranking British air officer estimated today that Soviet military personnel in Egypt numbers 20,000. He said the Russians withdrew their men to positions west of the Suez Canal because they did not want to get involved in any renewed fighting with Israel not because they Consider the Egyptians sufficiently trained to take over the Soviet missile defense system installed in the canal zone. According to Air Vice Marshal Roderick Jones, addressing a meeting of the Labor Friends of Israel in the House of Commons, the Soviet arms build-up in Egypt was conservatively estimated at $4.8 billion. But, he said, the Russians do not want war but a quick reopening of the Suez Canal so that their fleet can have easier access to the Indian Ocean. He didn’t think the Egyptians would resort to an all-out attack on Israeli positions but might revert to their war of attrition in the hope that Israel would retaliate and give them a chance to test their new Russian weapons. Jones said, “As a former RAF director of flight training, I can say that the Israeli air superiority is based on Israel’s air crews and not on her equipment. The Israeli pilots are the best trained in the world.”