Today, Friday, the Algerian army completed huge military maneuvers with heavy weapons and live ammunition, which lasted for three days, with the aim of “increasing the level of coordination between the various military units, raising the combat efficiency of the armed forces, and controlling the use of various weapon systems and military equipment.”
The military maneuvers, for which ground and air forces were mobilized, took place in the regions of Bechar and Tindouf, southwestern Algeria, during which tactical exercises were carried out to hit medium and long-range targets. It also included support training by helicopters and military aircraft during field operations. The military maneuver used defensive and offensive guided missile systems.
The army commander, Lieutenant General Said Chanegriha, who supervised, a few days ago, the implementation of a tactical exercise with live ammunition under the name “Chapter 2023”, said that the Algerian army now “possess all the elements of force for deterrence,” stressing that there is a tendency and great keenness of the military leadership towards “continuity.” In raising the level of commanders and staff, and the combat preparation of the units of the armed forces, to ensure rapid adaptation to the rapid developments that the world is witnessing, to achieve success in performing the tasks assigned to them, and to achieve more readiness and development in all aspects and fields of the military profession.
Chanegriha added, during an inspection tour to the third military district, that “the army has achieved, in a short time, significant achievements, and has become a professional army.” He continued, “We are always keen to maintain operational readiness at its highest levels, and to prepare and train our armed forces in the best way, so that they always have the reins of the ability to carry out their tasks, and are constantly adapting to the development of the geopolitical situation and the complexity of the stakes that the region is witnessing.”
--The Algerian army’s share in the current year’s budget amounted to more than $22 billion, in the largest budget the army has received since independence, with the aim of supporting its military capabilities and renewing its defense systems.
Commenting on the army commander’s statement regarding the Algerian army’s possession of deterrent means, Mabrouk Kahi, a political analyst interested in security affairs and military issues, told The New Arab that “deterrence can be understood through a previous statement by the army, emphasizing the regional dimension and the possibility of defeating any danger, whether it is Terrorist groups or even a classic enemy, as the army commander called it.” He added, “Deterrence is understood by the regional dimension by preserving the stability of the region and not thinking of any party to scatter the cards and deviate from the rules of the game in light of the chaos that the region knows, whether the African coast or the Libyan crisis.” Or even any possible developments about the Sahrawi conflict.
Kahi said that the intended concept of deterrence could go further to include “protecting the exclusive economic zone of the Algerian state in the western Mediterranean, in line with the recent constitutional amendments, especially related to the work of the military institution outside national borders,” noting that it also includes a political message to Regional parties and the international community with the ability of the Algerian army to maintain the balances of the region without the need for heavy foreign military bases, as is the case in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
