Col. Tamer Rifai, spokesman of the Egyptian armed forces, announced in an official statement Nov. 7 that Lt. Gen. Mohamed Farid Hegazy, chief of staff of the armed forces, attended the Arab Shield 1 military exercises, which started Nov. 3 and will last until Nov. 16. The drills are held at Mohamed Naguib military base in Matrouh, on the Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria.
This exercise reflects the reasoning for Saudi Arabia to fund the purchase of two Mistral amphibious carriers from France after Russia lost them over their invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and why Saudi Arabia provides financial support to Egypt. The Saudis want a bit more muscle behind them if there is war with Iran.
Those amphibious ships would help Egypt deal with threats all along the Red Sea and even extend Egypt's reach to the Strait of Hormuz.
Note that Egypt has regained its central role in Arab military circles--if not in political circles because of financial weakness--that Egypt lost following the Camp David peace treaty with Israel. Arab states ostracized Egypt over that.
Iranian aggression has proved to be a path back into the fold for Egypt, beginning with Arab fears of Iran during the Iran-Iraq War and continuing through today as Iranian-inspired violence troubles the Sinai, Gaza, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, and Yemen.
UPDATE: Jordan is another source of competent combat forces that the Gulf states can gain access to with money:
The Jordan Armed forces (JAF) renamed a brigade after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 20 November. ...
The unit is now officially known as the Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan Rapid Intervention/High Readiness Brigade. A JAF source told Jane's it is fully funded by the UAE and was formed in 2017[.]
I have no idea what conditions would lead Egypt or Jordan to commit their units to a fight abroad.
