Egypt: Middle East Largest Military Base Inaugurated

President Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated Wednesday Bernice military base, the largest in the country and the Middle East, set to emphasize Egypt’s influence in the Red Sea.

Located on the Red Sea coast along Egypt’s southern borders, the Bernice base covers 150,000-acre and is house to a naval base, an airbase, an army hospital, some combat and administrative units, and fields of shooting and training for all weapons.

The renovated and expended military base will serve in “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 ceremony was attended by several key figures in the region including the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan.

Bernice base is the second military base inaugurated by the Egyptian leader since ascending to power in 2013. He unveiled in 2017 Mohamed Naguib military base in the country’s eastern coastal province of Matrouh.