Egypt has launched the largest military base in the Middle East. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi performed the inauguration ceremony of the base which is aimed at protecting and securing the southern Egyptian coasts, protecting economic investments and natural resources in the area, confronting security challenges within the Red Sea, and securing global navigation traffic through the Red Sea to the country’s Suez Canal and related economic areas.
The military base which is named ‘Berenice military base’ sits on a 150,000 acre of land. It located on the Red Sea coast along Egypt’s southern borders, approximately 90 km north of the Halayib Triangle, an Egyptian-controlled area disputed by Sudan. It features a naval base, an airbase, an army hospital, some combat and administrative units, and fields of shooting and training for all weapons.
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Berenice military base
The base complex’s existing airbase has been significantly expanded with the construction of 18 new hardened air shelters, each capable of accommodating two fighters, as well as new parking aprons, hangars, and an accommodation and administration area.
A new runway has also been constructed in addition to the two existing ones, which is set to serve the new new civilian airport also built at the base. The airport can accommodate eight aircraft and its terminal can handle 600 passengers an hour.
The naval base has been constructed to the northeast. Its quay is is 1,000 m long and 14 m deep. A commercial port that will have 1,200 m of berthing space is under construction. The base complex is supported by local infrastructure developments that include a 50-bed hospital, a desalination plant with a 34,000 m 3 per day capacity, and 40 km of roads that link the various bases.
Egypt in not in the so-called Middle East.