ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the outset on Egyptian shipments of Soviet arms warehoused or manufactured in Egypt. It shows how Egypt and the United States have worked together to become a key supplier with Pakistan as the principal conduit. Egypt has been a major source of externally supplied weapons for the Pakistani conduit. Egypt, with the oldest and most experienced military establishment in the Arab world, was beginning to manufacture spare parts and ammunition not only for its Soviet arsenal but also for export. The prospect of the loss of Arab aid was not sufficient to prevent the Egyptian President from signing a peace treaty with Israel. The Arab strategy, which was later aborted, had been to finance food production in the Sudan and arms production in Egypt. Paid for by the United States, anti-Democratic Republic of Afghanistan forces in late 1984 were reportedly being trained in Egypt on the missile's use, employing manuals written by American experts.
