Abstract:
Despite the collapse of the Condor project, in which _Egypt_ had been collaborating with _Argentina_ and _Iraq_, most of Egypt's internal missile development infrastructure remains intact. Egypt has replaced its Soviet battlefield rockets, including the FROG-7, with the indigenously produced Sakr 30 and Sakr 80. Egypt is also reportedly attempting to build Scud missiles with help from China and North Korea.

Egypt is attempting to modernize its air defense systems by extending the service life of its Soviet SA-2, SA-3, and SA-6 missiles, and by adding laser guidance to former Soviet SAMs, introducing television circuits onto French Crotale missiles, and using second-generation US Hawk missiles. The Egyptian navy is installing Harpoon missiles on its four ex-Chinese 'Romeo' class submarines for improved anti-submarine capacity.

Egypt has made a concerted effort to build an indigenous defense production industry. Controlled by the Ministry of Defense and Supreme Committee for Armaments, Egypt's defense production is divided into establishments under the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI), and those under the National Organization for Defense Production (NODP). The AOI was formed in 1975 as a consortium between Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with each partner contributing US $260 million towards establishing an Arab-wide arms industry. However, as a result of the Camp David accords, the Gulf Arab partners pulled out of the consortium, leaving Egypt to continue AOI on its own.

Currently, the AOI consists of nine factories, employing 20,000 workers in the 1980s with an annual output of $100 million. The factory complex includes the Sakr missile facility, which produces the Redeye SAM, ATGWs, Matra Magic AAM, and short range SSMs based on Soviet designs; the Arab- British Dynamics Company, which produces Swingfire ATGWs; the Arab-British Company (ABECO), which builds engines for the Alpha jet and Mirage 2000; and the Helwan aircraft factory and Helwan Engine Company, which assembles engines for MiG-21 and Su-7 jets. The NODP--which is geared solely to producing for the domestic market--controls 16 factories, employing some 50,000 people and producing an estimated $240 million worth of goods per year in the 1980s. Egypt's NODP supervises several production groups, including: Field Services Equipment Group, where engines are manufactured by Helwan, and the Chemical and Explosives Group, where rocket propellants, powders, primer caps and small arms ammunition are produced by the Abu Zaabel and Kata factories.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Egypt had an ambitious SSM development program at the Sakr facility, which eventually failed when German scientists working on the program withdrew their expertise and the USSR denied Egypt modern guidance technology. In 1962, two liquid-fuelled rockets with warheads of 1,000 lb were tested, including the 300km range Al-Zafir and the 450km range Al-Qahir. In 1963, Egypt tested the 750km range Al-Ared with a warhead of 2,000 lb.