Gunmen killed an Egyptian soldier in an attack near the Suez Canal city of Ismailia on Friday, state television reported.
Two other soldiers were wounded in the drive-by shooting, which targeted an army personnel carrier on a desert road linking Ismailia to Cairo, dpa reported.
Members of the Egyptian security forces have been the target of numerous attacks since July, when the army deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi following massive street protests against his rule.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood was planning anti-military protests on Friday, the latest in a string of demonstrations which have apparently diminished because of a campaign of arrests aimed at the group's senior leaders.
A Brotherhood-led alliance has also called on followers to march to central Cairo's Tahrir Square on Sunday, which marks Army Day.
The army's supporters also called for a massive rally in Tahrir Square on Sunday, raising fears that there could be violence.