Egypt is considering the establishment of a factory for the production and assembly F-31/35

[Sami_1]

Egypt is considering the establishment of a factory for the production and assembly of stealth fighter jets made in China​

17/07/2024

Major General Mahmoud Fouad Abdel Gawd, commander of the air forces, met with lieutenant general Zhang Dingqiu, commander of the Chinese air forces, in Beijing, during a visit invited to him by the Chinese side.


This meeting came within the interest of the General Command of the Chinese Armed Forces in strengthening military cooperation with friendly countries.



In an official announcement published by the armed forces, it was stated that the meeting included a discussion of issues of common interest and the opening of new horizons between the air forces of the two countries through cooperation and strategic partnership in a number of fields, especially training, joint production and the transfer of advanced technology.





On the sidelines of the visit, the Air Force Commander also met with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Chinese Air Force, the Director of the Equipment and Technology Cooperation Department of the Chinese Army, the Chairman of the Board of Directors - CATEC, and the CEO of the Chinese company (Norinco).


In addition, he visited Tangin Air Base, where he watched an air show of J-10C fighter jets performed by the Chinese aerobatic team.



During the meeting, the commander of the Air Force, Major General Mahmoud Fouad Abdel Gawd, received a commemorative shield from his Chinese counterpart, with a large photo of the Chinese stealth fighter J-20 behind them.


It is worth noting that the J-20 fighter plane is not available for export, but there is another Chinese alternative of the Chinese aircraft company Shenyang Aircraft (SAC), which offered its customers to set up production lines abroad for its FC-31 stealth fighter plane , in order to increase the chances to export its stealth aircraft, as China has set up an office dedicated to promoting the country's FC-31 stealth fighter jet, according to Zhan Chiang, deputy general manager of SAC, a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation.


Compared to the American F-35, the Chinese FC-31 has its own advantages, including advanced technology, reasonable price, and most importantly, the absence of political restrictions and full service, the report said.



The FC-31, China's second stealth fighter after the J-20, was displayed at the 2021 China Air Show in Zhuhai alongside a PL-15E air-to-air missile that operates against targets beyond line of sight.





Since the Egyptian and Chinese sides have agreed on joint production and the transfer of advanced technology, there is a strong possibility that the production lines of the aircraft will be transferred to Egypt, especially in the absence of any other alternative, neither from the West nor from Russia. which has sanctions on arms exports.


Since Israel deployed stealthy F-35s, Egypt has sought to close the gap by purchasing French Rafale fighter jets. But despite its capabilities, it is still a whole generation behind the F-35. Therefore, China may be an attractive option to "balance" the balance of power in the region for the Egyptian Air Force.

 

[Sami_1]

Analysis

Simply put, we are the first to suggest that Samar produce the aircraft in Egypt through two production batches with a total of 240 aircraft as a fifth-generation fighter to replace the fourth-generation F-16, MIRGE-2000, for multiple reasons.
Chinese fighters are characterized by the ability to operate with the same efficiency as fourth-generation fighters, that is, the ability to carry out more than 2 sorties per day in case of need for that, while the American fifth-generation fighters F-22/35 have very low readiness rates and the maximum rate of flying sorties and executing missions is one sortie per day, in addition to a high rate of readiness. Operating costs are high, while Chinese fighters are characterized by lower operating costs

Technical convergence China has spent well on developing fifth generation fighter technology and distributed the research results to companies
The planes come 7 years after the production of the J-20 plane, and after China produced 200 J-20 planes, which means stabilizing the technology and ensuring the effectiveness of the planes, which is also what happened with the Chinese fighter engines that are spread on more than 700 Chinese aircraft that use WS-10/15 H engines. The Chinese government’s award of a contract to produce 20 WS-19 engines for the first production batch of the aircraft means that the aircraft carried out a level of testing that led to reassurance of the level of technology and readiness of the aircraft to enter service and crossed the barrier of basic and final tests.

The price of the fighter is compatible with the Egyptian budget, as the plane is priced at 75 million dollars, which is half the price of the Rafale
It is also equivalent to the price of the fourth generation Korean aircraft, the 4++ KF-21

The aircraft is in good condition according to its latest specifications
28,000 lb capacity motors per motor
Maximum take-off weight is 28 tons. Weapons carrying capacity is 8 tons, including 2 internal tons. Improving weapons carrying capabilities. Evacuate the containers. The container in the middle of the body is the same size as the internal armament container in the J-20 plane. As for the side weapon bays.

Its capacity has been increased by one weapon per bay, 2 WVR missiles per bay
Therefore, it exceeds the capabilities of fourth generation fighters and can be developed

The flexibility it enjoys by integrating various local, Chinese and Russian ammunition
Reviving the aircraft industry in Egypt after it stopped since 2012 to pass purchases of fighter jets and some commercial interests.
We have always said that Samar is forced to manufacture weapons because it will not be able to purchase all its requirements without local manufacturing to reduce the cost so that all weapons demands can be met at an acceptable price.


Alternatives are difficult to provide

Rafale high price and France's low manufacturing capacity to meet any demands, in addition to the lack of fifth-generation fighter technology, France itself is gradually losing the capabilities of manufacturing advanced engines as a result of its inability to develop engines and re-equip its scientific base for this matter.The Koreans' fighter is still a fourth generation, and their fifth generation fighter will not appear until 2032The Turks do not have a fighter engine. They rely on the General Electric F110-GE-129 engine, which is an obsolete F-16 aircraft engine. The Turks dream of a national engine with a capacity of 35,000 pounds. It is doubtful that it will exist 10 years from now. China itself spent 20 years to reach engines whose level is close to Western engines.The Russian SU-75 fighter has years to reach production, while China has already produced several models
China can provide the best levels of technology transfer as long as the deal is large and attractive. In addition, there are interests from Saudi Arabia and the Emirates to buy the plane as well

Large deals could include other drones and even training with China, which makes the temptation to implement them for the Chinese side with technical facilities for transport to Egypt more flexible.

 

[ety]

Is Egypt also still interested in J10-CE ? There was talk of possible purchase of J10-CE for sometime.

 

[BP2]

Why not.
In this case they can say goodbye to US advanced weapons.

 

[BP2]

Since Israel deployed stealthy F-35s, Egypt has sought to close the gap

Their next ennemy is not Israel. They don't have to fear it.
More probably Turkey, about oil fields and or Lybia.
So they need a more ranged bird than F35.

 

[BP2]

the General Electric F110-GE-129 engine, which is an obsolete F-16 aircraft engine.

I think China and India would be very pleased to have such an obsolete engine fully domesticated !!!

 

[Sami_1]

Is Egypt also still interested in J10-CE ? There was talk of possible purchase of J10-CE for sometime.

The circulating information is that Egypt had obtained a currency exchange worth $2.5 billion, of which $1 billion included the purchase of 12 J-10CE aircraft. Egypt requested its own specifications. It is not known whether an agreement was actually reached or a difference occurred. Egypt’s possession of fighters such as the F-31/35 remains important because it is a strategic deal. To replace the aging F-16 fleet and also incorporate any local modifications from China itself, this deal will penetrate global markets, given that the Egyptian Air Force selects fighters well and has global respect, so the market for the Rafa fighter has become fast and high after Egypt became an export customer.

 

[Sami_1]

Their next ennemy is not Israel. They don't have to fear it.
More probably Turkey, about oil fields and or Lybia.
So they need a more ranged bird than F35.

Egypt has water interests in the Nile Basin countries, and therefore there is a need for medium and heavy aircraft. The Turkish Air Force does not have a major dilemma, as it was pushed to delay the program to develop its air force and the loss of F-16 fighters benefited everyone, so the Turks are reconsidering the development of the Turkish F-16 fleet, whose value can be Buying 150 new Typhoon aircraft instead of developing a fleet of aircraft, most of which are past their mid-life, even if they add 40 new fighters.
The KAAN fighter project is high-risk due to Turkey's limited capabilities to complete it successfully and without an engine that is not controlled by America, which of course does not want a Turkish project to succeed to breathe it into the Gulf markets, for example.

 

[Sami_1]

I think China and India would be very pleased to have such an obsolete engine fully domesticated !!!

China has surpassed these engines after the success of the WS-15 engine project, parallel to the F119-PW-100 engine.
The same applies to the WS-19 engine
Guizhou incorporated many of the same technology as on the WS-15 to develop the WS-19
The gap between China and America is very narrow in the field of manufacturing fifth-generation fighter engines. China provides good financing and resources to cover all the gaps quickly with the generation of Egypt. The level of these engines is acceptable if they are slightly less developed than American engines, because there are other benefits that stem from the absence of significant quantitative or technical restrictions, such as The United States imposed to protect Israel


India still needs many years because it insists on not relying on its engines, even if they have lower capabilities. Relying on the local product provides incentives and capabilities to develop it. This is in addition to the fact that the Indian side is accustomed to not leading technological projects. Their will is less than that of China. Besides, they do not penetrate American secrets or the networks of component suppliers to manufacturers. American weapons, which provided them with high-tech espionage operations

 

[drkrn86]

Does Egyptian economy allow to buy J-31?

 

[Cookie Monster]

Does Egyptian economy allow to buy J-31?

If Egypt, Pakistan, and China buy this aircraft in decent numbers…along with a couple other countries…the aircraft’s price per unit would end up being quite affordable for even developing countries just due to mass production.

 

[Sami_1]

Does Egyptian economy allow to buy J-31?

According to Israeli reports, Egypt annually purchases weapons worth $10 billion, of which 40% is believed to be for the Air Force, if not more. That is, the Air Force’s annual purchase budget is $4 billion.

Since 2013 Egypt has bought
$2.2 billion MiG-29 fighter deal
5.2 billion euros cripples 24 Rafale fighters and one Frame frigate, which exceeds 4 billion euros for Rafale fighters.
It purchased 3.45 Sukhoi 35 fighter jets for 32 fighters in its development program
It purchased the second batch of Rafale fighters worth $4.5 billion for 30 fighters. These deals were completed within 7 years.
In addition to helicopter deals for 40 A149/189 aircraft and 50 KA-52 aircraft, the value of the two deals is estimated at $2 billion, and 4 FALCOM 7 aircraft worth $300 million.
In addition to the $2.2 billion deal for C-130J transport aircraft and $70 million for two IL-76MF aircraft.
That is, in 7 years, it bought fighters worth $10 billion
Transport revenues worth $2.5 billion
Helicopters worth $2 billion
Other than huge drone deals
The Egyptian army controls 52% of the Egyptian economy, in addition to a budget allocated to it from the government budget

 

[Sami_1]

If Egypt, Pakistan, and China buy this aircraft in decent numbers…along with a couple other countries…the aircraft’s price per unit would end up being quite affordable for even developing countries just due to mass production.

There are already rumors that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are interested in the plane, and that one of the two countries is interested in financing the project. China in 2012 requested a partner or the sale of the project for $2 billion. The specifications were not attractive at the time, and the project was just beginning.
Pakistan has already announced the purchase to replace F-16 aircraft, meaning that Pakistan's orders will be between 75-100 aircraft.
China's orders are not announced, but it is estimated that the Chinese Navy will order 200 aircraft to replace older aircraft and even replace the J-15.
The Chinese Air Force, of course, has larger orders, perhaps between 300-600. The orders are really large. If China succeeds in attracting Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, it will place orders for no less than 80 aircraft for the Emirates or 110 for Saudi Arabia. Many countries want to replace the F-16 and the F-35. They are still suffering from problems even Today, it has not reached even 75% readiness, which makes countries not require large numbers of them, so as not to put their air force hostage to fighters that have not achieved high operational capability.

 

[Sami_1]

Egypt has many rare minerals, including the production of black sand factory, which reserves one billion tons in Egypt and produces

The factory for preparation, feeding and production of magnetite, with a production capacity of 12 thousand tons per year.

• The ilmenite plant with a production capacity of 298 thousand tons per year.

• The zircon plant with a production capacity of 25 thousand tons per year.

• The rutile plant with a production capacity of 11 thousand tons per year.

• The garnet factory with a production capacity of 23 thousand tons per year.

• The monazite plant with a production capacity of 145 thousand tons per year.

Unlike a series of other minerals, Egypt refuses to sell these minerals except under conditions that are either manufactured or by means of a transfer of technologies in the field of the aviation industry from China and Russia in exchange for Egypt exporting to them. Therefore, the project to produce the FC-31/35 plane is linked to the precious metals that Egypt possesses, as well as white sand. High purity, which it exploits to obtain technologies in the field of aviation and electronics industries

 

[BP2]

the Turkish F-16 fleet, whose value can be Buying 150 new Typhoon aircraft instead of developing a fleet of aircraft,

I don't see Turkey purchasing 150 EF2000. 40 maybe. And don't forget Germany : they are a real break in all weapons deal with non european country.