Egypt receives missile boat from Russia

Egypt received a new missile corvette from Russia on Thursday.

The Egyptian flag was raised on the P-32 Molniya-class missile craft after the delivery ceremony took place in the presence of Commander of the Egyptian Navy Osama Rabea. 
The Egyptian Navy received the Molniya-class fast missile craft that has been gifted by Russia.

Egypt had dispatched a group of its most skillful technical teams to Russia to receive training on this class of corvettes.

Commander of the Egyptian Navy Vice Admiral Osama Rabea attended the ceremony in Alexandria, where the Egyptian flag was raised on the boat, named “Ahmed Fadel”, marking its joining of the Egyptian fleet.

A Russian military delegation, led by the commander of the Leningrad Naval Base, was present at the ceremony.

Rabea said the two countries share identical political views on fighting terrorism and preserving security in the Middle East.

The Russian side was keen to train and pass on its expertise to the Egyptian crew regarding the boat, he said.

The boat had visited Alexandria once in August last year as it was part of the inauguration ceremony of the new Suez Canal, the Leningrad commander said.

The Egyptian people celebrate after two days the first anniversary of opening the canal, he said, adding that the timing of handing over the boat is very symbolic.

The Molniya missile boat is intended to engage combatant ships, amphibious ships and other vessels at open sea. It has a variety of weapons with surface-to-surface and surface-to-air capabilities. It has a unique radar system and a gun fire control system that detects air and surface targets, performs automatic tracking, and computes firing data.