Saudi armed forces and partners conclude joint ‘Bright Star 2023’ drill in Egypt

Saudi Arabia’s armed forces concluded a joint exercise with the participation of counterpart units from brotherly and friendly countries in Egypt, the Kingdom’s Defense Ministry announced on Friday.

The “Bright Star 2023” exercise concluded at the Mohamed Naguib Military Base in the city of Hammam, Marsa Matrouh Governorate, in the presence of the head of the Armed Forces Training and Development Authority, Maj. Gen. Adel Al-Balawi, and the military attaché to Egypt, Col. Abdulkarim Al Sudais.

The conclusion of the exercise witnessed the application of a number of combat scenarios, as the armed forces units participating in the exercise carried out command center training, parachuting, storming terrorist outposts, live shooting, sea raiding, air missile defense training, and defense against weapons of mass destruction.

The units also participated in the Bright Star Forum workshops.

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The joint military exercise, which ran from August 31 to September 14, involved 8,000 troops from 34 countries, with host country Egypt providing the largest contingent of more than 2,300 troops, followed by the US with about 1,500 service members.

Aside from Egypt, the US, and Saudi Arabia, the other countries with troops on the ground during the exercise include Cameroon, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Malawi, Pakistan, Qatar, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Participating as observers were Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Republic of the Congo, Hungary, Japan, Nigeria, Oman, Poland, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and the United Arab Emirates, according to a report in the US Central Command website.