Egyptian and Spanish paratroopers have completed the joint training activity EGY-ESP-A-5 in Egypt, ending with free-fall jumps carrying the flags of both countries over the Giza pyramids, the Egyptian Armed Forces announced on 8 November 2026. The activity ran over several days and was attended by Major General Mohamed Saad Abdel Razek, Commander of the Egyptian Paratroops, together with Spain’s ambassador and defence attaché in Cairo, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Defence.
The armed forces said the drill was part of their effort to exchange expertise with friendly countries and raise the combat efficiency of their units. The designation EGY-ESP-A-5 indicates the fifth activity in an Egyptian-Spanish series of airborne exchanges.
Classroom, Wind Tunnel and Free Fall
The programme opened with theoretical and practical lectures on free-fall parachutes and on the techniques used to carry out different missions. The two contingents then trained in a vertical wind tunnel, described by the ministry as an “air column”, which lets parachutists practise body position, stability and formation control in a controlled airflow before jumping from aircraft. The final phase moved to live free-fall parachuting.
Military free fall is a core skill for airborne and special operations forces. Parachutists leave the aircraft at altitude and open their canopies late, which allows small teams to be inserted with less exposure to ground observation. Wind tunnel time cuts the number of costly aircraft sorties needed to keep jumpers current and lets instructors from both forces compare techniques side by side.
The closing display took place over the archaeological site of the Giza pyramids, where Egyptian and Spanish jumpers descended with their national flags. The ministry said the jumps reflected “the professionalism and harmony” between the participating forces.
A Busy Season of Egyptian Exercises
The ministry framed EGY-ESP-A-5 as one of a series of joint training activities with friendly countries intended to strengthen military cooperation and improve combat training. The drill came during an intense autumn for Egypt’s armed forces. In the same period, the Egyptian Navy completed the Sea of Friendship 2026 exercise with Türkiye off Alexandria, where Turkish Navy chief Admiral Ercüment Tatlıoğlu said Ankara aims to build warships jointly with Egypt under its MILGEM programme. Cairo has also been expanding its operational footprint in the region, having sent Rafale fighters and troops to Saudi Arabia and launched Operation Southern Shield on the Sudanese border.
Egypt runs one of the most active exercise calendars in Africa, from the annual Bright Star drills with the United States to the multinational Medusa series with Greece and Cyprus, which Military Africa covered when Medusa-12 got under way in 2022. Its paratroops are among the most frequently deployed units in these exchanges, training with partners from Europe, the Gulf and Asia.
Madrid’s Mediterranean Partner
For Spain, regular airborne exchanges with Egypt sit alongside a wider push into African defence markets, from Spanish firm EM&E’s appearance at AFRIDEX 2026 in Lagos to its industrial agreement with Nigeria’s Nigus Tactical Systems. For Cairo, the series offers its paratroops regular contact with a European airborne force trained to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standards without tying Egypt to any single supplier or bloc. The ministry presented the drill as confirmation of the depth of military cooperation between the two countries, and the numbering of EGY-ESP-A-5 suggests a sixth round will follow.
