Reda Mahmoud Hafez Mohamed ( Arabic: ) (3 March 1952 – 3 December 2013) was the commander of the

Egyptian Air Force The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) ( ar, القوات الجوية المصرية, El Qūwāt El Gawīyä El Maṣrīya), is the aviation branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces that is responsible for all airborne defence missions and operates all milit ...

. Mohamed was also the minister for military production in the interim cabinet led by Prime Minister Hazem Al Beblawi.

Biography

Reda Mahmoud Hafez Mohamed graduated from the Egyptian Air Academy in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in aviation and military Sciences. The following year he saw active service in the October or Yom Kippur War. He has flown several aircraft including the Aero L-29 Delfín, MiG-17, MiG-19, MiG-21 and the

McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

. In 1991, Mohamed was appointed

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

on the No. 242 Air Wing which flew the

F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...

. This appointment was short lived and Mohamed took up post as Second-in-Command of No 232 Air Wing (also equipped with the F-16) in 1992. Two years later, Mohamed received a command appointment as the Commander of No. 272 Wing which was another F-16 unit. After his extensive experience on F-16 units, Mohamed was posted to the United States as an Egyptian Air Force liaison officer. Returning to Egypt, Mohamed was appointed the Deputy Chief of Armament Department in 2001 followed by a brief spell as the Deputy Commander of the Air Force Academy in 2002. It was also in 2002 that Mohamed attended the High War College. Now ready for higher command, Mohamed was the Chief of Staff at the Eastern Air Zone headquarters in 2002/03 before becoming the Southern Air Zone Commander in 2003. He became the Eastern Air Zone Commander in 2004 and was made the Chief of the Air Force's Training Department in 2005. On 1 July 2007 he became Chief of the Operations Department and towards the end of the year he was appointed Air Force

. Only three months later he replaced

Magdy Galal Sharawi Air Marshal Magdy Galal Sharawi ( ar, مجدي جلال شعراوي born May, 1946) is a retired senior Egyptian Air Force officer. From 2002 to 2008, he was the Commander of the Egyptian Air Force. Magdy Galal Sharawi graduated from the Egyp ...

as the Commander of the Air Force, taking up his appointment on 20 March 2008. It was while Mohamed was in command that Air Force F-16s overflew the protesters in

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...

during

2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

, although no attempt was made to attack the demonstrators. Mohamed was a member of the

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF; ar, المجلس الأعلى للقوات المسلحة, ', also Higher Council of the Armed Forces) is a statutory body of between 20 and 25 senior Egyptian military officers and is headed by Fi ...

which, after Hosni Mubarak had departed the presidency, has carried out the executive function within the Egyptian state. He was replaced by Younes Hamed as Commander of the Air Force in August 2012. In July 2013 Hafez was appointed as Minister of Military Production by Hesham Qandil (Mohammed Morsi's Prime Minister). Hafez kept his ministerial position during and after the

2013 Egyptian coup d'état The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitut ...

. In the Autumn of 2013 Hafez began to suffer from severe heart problems and he died at the International Medical Centre hospital on 3 December 2013.

References

External links

* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohamed, Reda Mahmoud Hafez 1952 births 2013 deaths Egyptian Air Force air marshals Members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Military production ministers of Egypt Egyptian Air Academy alumni