East European sources described as very reliable have confirmed reports that the Soviet Union is building a military air base near the Aswan High Dam in Egypt for the exclusive use of the Soviet Air Force. According to the sources an agreement for construction of the base was signed by President Anwar Sadat when he visited Moscow last Oct, and construction is proceeding very rapidly. The base is expected to be fully operational by next May, coincidental with President Nixon’s summit visit to Moscow. It will be manned entirely by Russian personnel.
The immediate purpose of the air base according to informed sources is to deter an Israeli retaliatory strike against the dam in the likelihood of renewed hostilities in the Middle East. The Aswan High Dam was designed, built and financed by the Soviet Union, after the US withdrew from a similar project in the 1950s and is regarded as the single most important project that opened the door to Soviet influence in Egypt. Israeli Phantom jets have the range to reach the dam and Israel is believed to have developed weapons capable of breaching it.
Destruction of the Aswan Dam, if permitted by the Russians, would subject Egypt to disastrous floods and constitute a major blow to Soviet prestige. The Israelis are not considered likely to attack the dam unless provoked by Egyptian attacks on Israeli civilian centers, such as an air raid on Tel Aviv.
POLITICAL, MILITARY IMPLICATIONS
East European sources said the new Soviet air base has other important military and political purposes. It will be handy for aerial reconnaissance over the Indian Ocean. It can be used to put pressure on the Sudan which has been drawing close to China. It will give the Soviet Union a large measure of control of the air over the Red Sea and will enable Moscow to meet the challenge of expanding Chinese influence in southern Yemen.
Finally, the air base will give Moscow a stranglehold over Egypt which construction of the Aswan dam never did. The sources said the base would be used by MIC-2ls, MIC-23s and Tupolev 16 bombers. It will be defended by SAM-3 surface-to-air missiles. The same source sources also revealed that Egypt’s Mansura air base west of Cairo is now exclusively manned by Soviet pilots and ground crews.
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