Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East Volume 3

During the Cold War, communist Czechoslovakia was one of the largest arms exporters to the Middle East among the Soviet Bloc countries. The third volume of this mini-Series describes the history of arms exports from Czechoslovakia to Egypt including related military assistance.

Although Egypt had expressed interest in buying Czechoslovak arms just before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, no deliveries were made as Prague fully supported the nascent Jewish state. The situation began to change from July 1950 when Czechoslovakia banned exports of its weapons to Israel. These developments culminated in September 1955, when the first huge Czechoslovak-Egyptian arms deal was concluded. As a proxy of Moscow, Prague delivered impressive quantities of armaments and ammunition together with spare parts, logistics, and support equipment.

At the same time, Czechoslovak military instructors and advisors were also sent to Egypt.