Turkey and Egypt on Monday launched the first joint naval exercise in 13 years as bilateral defence ties continue to warm. Egypt's military spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that Egyptian naval forces had arrived in Turkey for the drills. He said that the exercise would "strengthen military cooperation" with Turkey, describing it as a "brotherly and friendly" country. A company affiliated with the Egyptian military last month signed an agreement with Turkish defence software company Havelsan to co-produce autonomous drones in Egypt. Egypt recently called for a regional military alliance akin to an 'Arab Nato' in response to Israel's unprecedented attack in Qatar.