CAIRO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and France concluded on Wednesday the joint naval military exercises code-named "Cleopatra 2017," state-owned Ahram Online reported.
The joint exercises have run for several days in Egyptian territorial waters in the Mediterranean and Red Sea, the Egyptian army announced in a statement.
The exercises included planning and management of joint offensive and defensive combat operations, inspection of suspicious vessels, transportation exercises, helicopter manoeuvres, air defence and the maritime landing of personnel and equipment on coasts.
The drills saw the participation of the amphibious assault ships of the French Mistral class, including Egypt's newly-purchased Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar El-Sadat.
A number of frigates, rocket launchers, F-16 fighter jets and anti-submanires aircrafts also participated in the exercises.
Come in light of the two sides' keenness to continue boosting bilateral relations at the military level, the drills aimed at honing skills and combat capabilities of naval forces of both sides, the Egyptian army said.
In 2016, Egypt carried out 30 joint military exercises with 20 Arab and African countries, as well as European countries including France and Russia.
