China’s J-16 fighter planes engage in first-ever combat exercise with French-made Rafale fighters

[K2RULEZ]

No just regular J-16.

These will be more than enough to tackle the Rafale.

 

[Pioneer]

Very good analysis.

Egypt-China Air Drill Draws Attention of US and Israel - i24NEWS

Israel is watching the trend for a different reason. The concern is less about the drill itself and more about what Chinese-Egyptian military cooperation could eventually mean for Egypt’s capabilities

www.i24news.tv

 

[Pioneer]

 

[AZ_HighCountry]

 

[Ali_Baba]

At which point did the J-16 enter NATO Airspace? What kind of horse-sh*t is this click bait crap ?

 

[Ali_Baba]

View attachment 212505

Egyptian ones most certainly are, the bulk of the fleet has no BVR capability, and their latest variants are out ranged by the PL-15 and whatever AESA monster of a radar that the J-16 has.

 

[retaxis]

Not sure if there is any truth to this

A viral social media rumor claims that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet defeated a French-built Rafale "7-1" during joint training exercises in Egypt. [1]

The Rumor and Context

• • The Claim: Social media posts on platforms like Twitter alleged that during the first day of a joint exercise between China and Egypt, a J-16 scored a 7-1 victory over the Rafale in close-range combat without using beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles. [1]
  • The Reality: There is no official military confirmation or credible defense reporting of any such engagement or scoreline. Military analysts note that joint exercises are designed for cooperation, training, and building mutual confidence rather than competitive "scorekeeping" or dogfight tallies. [1]
  • Strategic Background: The rumor spreads amid growing defense marketing and geopolitical competition. Reports indicate China is actively pitching advanced military hardware—such as stealth fighters and multi-role jets—to traditional U.S. and Western partners in the Middle East, including Egypt. Egypt already operates the Dassault Rafale, making comparisons between French and Chinese aircraft a frequent topic of online speculation. [1, 2, 3]

 

[K2RULEZ]

Not sure if there is any truth to this

A viral social media rumor claims that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet defeated a French-built Rafale "7-1" during joint training exercises in Egypt. [1]

The Rumor and Context

• • The Claim: Social media posts on platforms like Twitter alleged that during the first day of a joint exercise between China and Egypt, a J-16 scored a 7-1 victory over the Rafale in close-range combat without using beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles. [1]
  • The Reality: There is no official military confirmation or credible defense reporting of any such engagement or scoreline. Military analysts note that joint exercises are designed for cooperation, training, and building mutual confidence rather than competitive "scorekeeping" or dogfight tallies. [1]
  • Strategic Background: The rumor spreads amid growing defense marketing and geopolitical competition. Reports indicate China is actively pitching advanced military hardware—such as stealth fighters and multi-role jets—to traditional U.S. and Western partners in the Middle East, including Egypt. Egypt already operates the Dassault Rafale, making comparisons between French and Chinese aircraft a frequent topic of online speculation. [1, 2, 3]

Would that be such a strange claim after the J-10C mauling the Rafale?

 

[niubi]

This was a WVR aka dogfight scenario.

So J-10C mauling Rafale has nothing to do with the 7-1 J-16 vs Rafale training scenario of which we have no indication of rules of engagement but it shouldn't be a stretch to say it would not have been rules that favoured the Chinese side in any case if it were uneven to begin with.

China is using this opportunity to train with western fighters which is very rare opportunities for China and they wouldn't waste it setting the rules up where it's just intended to be a turkey shoot.

However, this does reflect a bit poorly on Egyptian pilot skills. Which was alluded to with the news anyway because they said, the Chinese side wanted to not point this out rudely to the Egyptians.

Training with Thailand against their Gripen C's the J-10s and J-11s both dominated the Gripen in dogfights (the J-11 got destroyed in BVR though because Gripen C vs J-11A of course since J-11A is not really BVR capable at all).

So PLAAF pilots are pretty good at dogfights given all the exercise and training news we've had over the years.

 

[rafale]

Israeli pissing its pants at the prospect of Chinese J-16s coming to Egypt.......Egypt has the money to buy top end equipment and considering they have been handicapped by lower ranged AA missiles, it is no wonder they would want to open up to Chinese.

And i am sure Pakistan helped this momentum going.......

 

[ety]

Israeli pissing its pants at the prospect of Chinese J-16s coming to Egypt.......Egypt has the money to buy top end equipment and considering they have been handicapped by lower ranged AA missiles, it is no wonder they would want to open up to Chinese.

And i am sure Pakistan helped this momentum going.......

I think they are too scared of American sanctions to buy any advanced fighters and other big ticket offensive weapons from China, at least so far.

 

[Pioneer]

 

[Pioneer]

Indians are very concerned.

 

[Ali_Baba]

These exercises are a good opportunity for China to get detailed radar images and signatures of the Rafale itself via the J16 and KJ-500's, on top of familiarizing the Rafale to PLAAF pilots. India has every reason to be concerned.