The Egyptian and Russian naval forces concluded Saturday the activities of their joint naval exercise “Friendship Bridge-4”, which was carried out over the past few days in the territorial waters of the Northern Fleet in the Mediterranean Operations Theatre.

According to a statement from the Military Spokesperson Gharib Abdel Hafez on Saturday, the training included holding theoretical lectures to unify the concepts between the elements of the navies of both sides with the participation of the Mistral helicopter carrier “Jamal Abdel Nasser”, where several naval formations were implemented, local media reported.

Despite the bad weather conditions, the training included the implementation of artillery fire with live ammunition and defense against atypical threats, in addition to the implementation of air defense training on naval formations, securing a ship with an important cargo, exercising the right of visit and inspection, and carrying out aerial photography.

Moreover, the personnel of the naval special forces of both sides also carried out several joint activities, including tactical shooting with small arms and snipers, as well as training in urban and confined spaces, which showed the extent of the accuracy and high combat efficiency of the two sides and the ability to solve all emergency situations successfully.

Abdel Hafez said that the “Friendship Bridge-4” training comes in light of the growing relations of military cooperation between the Egyptian and Russian armed forces, maximizing the benefit from the bilateral capabilities of both sides, and exchanging experiences in the method of securing theatres of naval operations against various hostilities.