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| Africa North |
| China Deploys J-10 Fighters To Egypt |
| 2025-04-25 |
| [TWZ] The air combat exercises between Egypt and China serve multiple purposes, but Beijing's eye on Africa is highlighted by the drills. In another sign of China’s growing interest in the Middle East and Africa, the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has sent multiple combat aircraft to Wadi Abu Rish Air Base for "Eagles of Civilization 2025," its first aerial training exercise with Egypt. The PLAAF deployed a Y-20U aerial refueling tanker, a KJ-500 AWACS aircraft, and J-10B/C fighters from the 18th Air Brigade and the 177th Air Brigade, according to the China 3 Army Telegram channel. Egypt is flying its MiG-29M/M2 Fulcrum multirole fighters in the drills. All this is taking place against the backdrop of conflicting claims about Cairo purchasing J-10Cs and America’s gaze turning away from Africa. The exercise kicked off on Sunday and runs through the middle of May. It "aims to enhance the technical and tactical levels of the participating troops on both sides and is of great significance to promoting pragmatic cooperation and enhancing mutual trust and friendship between the two armies," according to the official Chinese CCTV media outlet. The exercise, being staged at a base about 60 miles west of the Gulf of Suez, will allow Egypt to work with one of China’s top airborne early warning and control platforms, its primary medium-weight multi-role fighter, and its relatively new refueler. Moving all these planes, support equipment and troops from China also demonstrates Beijing’s growing global air mobility capabilities. "The air unit has adopted a mixed force formation that combines air transfer and aerial transportation, which ensured full deployment of all personnel and equipment by Tuesday after they completed a journey of nearly 6,000 kilometers (about 3,700 miles)," according to CCTV. In addition, it has been suggested that China can use the exercise to train against relatively modern MiG-29s, a type that remains a primary fighter for the Indian Air Force and Navy. On the larger geopolitical elements of this exercise, Eagles of Civilization 2025 gives China an inroad into a key U.S. Middle East ally at a time of increasing regional tensions and rising questions about U.S. reliability as a primary security partner. Egypt, which received nearly $1.5 billion in U.S. military aid last year, is caught between wanting to continue that support and opposing calls by the Trump administration to deport residents of Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been engaged in a brutal war since Oct. 7, 2023. Cairo has been a key player in trying to end that conflict, helping to negotiate a ceasefire that has since collapsed. With the real possibility of drastic foreign aid cuts to beneficiaries like Egypt, Cairo could see Beijing as an alternative to Washington’s largesse and resulting attached strings. A former commander of U.S. Central Command gave us his thoughts on the situation. "I don’t know that this exercise portends any significant direct risk for us — but it is a reminder that our partners (in this case Egypt) have choices as well," retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel, now a Distinguished Military Fellow at the Middle East Institute, told us Monday morning. "Clearly, China is trying to grow influence with countries in the region, who also have well-established ties to the U.S., so that they are viewed more positively. This is linked to a desire to be seen as an alternative military equipment supplier to Egypt and other countries in the region. To this end, China will portray themselves as a more timely and effective supplier — and partner — than the United States." There's more at the link, and it includes formatting I'm leaving out. And lots of pictures. |
| Posted by:Thing From Snowy Mountain |
| #1 Beefing up the Jordan front? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-04-25 15:34 |