Egypt inaugurated its State Strategic Command Headquarters, known as “the Octagon,” on July 4, establishing the facility as the world’s largest defense complex by total footprint, surpassing the Pentagon at roughly 22,000 acres in the New Administrative Capital, approximately 45 miles east of Cairo.
بحضور الرئيس السيسي.. اصطفاف أبطال القوات المسلحة خلال افتتاح مقر القيادة الاستراتيجية للدولة المصرية #الأوكتاجون 🇪🇬 #ON pic.twitter.com/xmZCucWwuB
— ON (@ONTVEgy) July 5, 2026
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, signed the official inauguration charter and raised the Armed Forces flag above the complex. He said the facility “represents a significant leap in our command, control, and operations management systems,” according to Egypt’s State Information Service.
Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ashraf Salem Zaher stated it “forms the core of the state’s command system, relocating the Armed Forces General Command to achieve unified control through continuous development.”
The complex consists of eight interconnected octagonal buildings across 13 strategic and logistical zones. It incorporates command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) infrastructure with artificial intelligence systems for real-time data analysis and decision support. Egyptian officials confirmed the facility was designed and built entirely by Egyptian engineers and firms.
Saturday marked el-Sisi’s first public appearance in military uniform since 2015, when he inaugurated an expansion of the Suez Canal. He said the relocation to the New Capital was designed to prevent a repeat of the 2013 sieges by Islamist groups of key state institutions in Cairo, including the Supreme Constitutional Court.
At the ceremony, el-Sisi praised the October 2025 Gaza ceasefire co-mediated by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States. “There can be no lasting peace, no true stability, and no popular normalization without a just peace that ends the occupation,” he said.
The opening comes months after U.S.-Egyptian forces conducted joint exercises during Bright Star 25 and follows U.S. approval of $929 million in potential arms sales to Egypt in February 2025.
