It is clear that some do not understand the importance of Egypt as a market for the FC-31 aircraft.
It is the gateway to the international export market for countries considered good markets.
China spent $2 billion on the project as a development and the Egyptian defense market achieves good profits for the aircraft. Even if Egypt requested 120 aircraft at a price of $75 million including the development cost, it will cover the development cost and achieve limited profits for China in addition to the Chinese market for the Chinese Navy.
Many countries consider that Egypt selects good weapons more than any other country and every weapon that Egypt selects achieves success in international markets. China exported 400 K-8E aircraft after Egypt contracted for them and even Egypt, which requested a large development package for the F-7, F-6 aircraft, after which China achieved good results in export markets.
Egypt obtained 150 F-7 aircraft previously and 90 F-6 models, some of which were delivered directly from China, in addition to another part that was part of the assembly of 120 F-7 aircraft exported from Egypt to Sudan and Iraq and the same thing 120 F-6 aircraft, 40 of which are for the Egyptian market and the rest for export. Egypt had requested a package of developments on these aircraft, which made the price of the Egyptian F-7 aircraft one million dollars, although the price of the Chinese export version is between 1-1.5 million dollars. The difference is the cost of development. The same thing. Egypt bought the K-8E aircraft for 3.5 million dollars, while the Chinese export version for the first batch was priced at 2.5 million dollars. The difference was the cost of 33 modifications to the Chinese aircraft to make it suitable for service in the Egyptian Air Force. Perhaps some Chinese do not understand why China offered Egypt to produce the L-15 aircraft for Egypt and produce it locally in 2010. Egypt refused because of its suffering in modifying the development of the K-8E aircraft, which required Egypt to resort to a European supplier to develop some components so that the aircraft would continue to serve in Egypt well and continuously.
While China did not succeed in exporting fighters in large numbers, it drove trivial numbers to the markets of Pakistan and Myanmar.
Establishing a local production line in Egypt will push Egypt to develop the aircraft We see it widely in 40 Egyptian air bases
That is, the terrifying thing is that China's interests met, and it refused to sell the plane to Egypt before when Egypt requested higher specifications for the J-10 plane
It only succeeded in exporting it to Pakistan
The large Egyptian demand for the plane provides China with economic feasibility, regardless of other projects such as South Korea and Turkey, as Egypt is a potential market for this plane
The spread of the Chinese plane will reduce the cost of its acquisition and provide China with more inclination towards sixth-generation fighters and establish itself as a supplier of fifth-generation fighters, so China will achieve the spread here
Egypt's purchases of Chinese weapons in the seventies are what opened the Gulf markets for purchases, an argument resulting from the presence of Egyptian military advisors in these countries, and they gave good evaluations of Chinese weapons
Egypt was an international gateway for transferring Western weapons technology to China over 50 years
Some do not understand what is happening in the world, China has turned into a factory for the world, not only because Europe and America import Chinese products, but also markets such as Egypt Brazil and Turkey for simple and low-tech Chinese products and even the Chinese car industry, when China opened factories through its partners in Brazil, Turkey and Egypt, Chery Chinese cars spread and money flowed into China and the same thing.
We explained a simpler example, which is drones, turning them into the largest global market and the largest real customer for China in drones outside China, which is Egypt, which made Chinese drones the most popular.
So the importance of the matter for China is marketing and a market, and also the success of BRICS, as the national exchange of currencies will encourage countries to buy without the need for the dollar, so BRICS will succeed at the expense of the Group of Seven, which will move to a weaker economic group and leave the arena to BRICS.
Buying the fighter will bring about the purchase of ammunition, missiles, modernization warehouses, reconnaissance warehouses and electronic warfare systems. Any purchases made over 40 years do not stop. You do not buy a plane, but after that you buy spare parts, development, reconstruction and ammunition are much more important than the price of the plane at the time of purchase.
The clearest example of this is the F-16 aircraft purchased by Egypt in 1981 at a price of $11 million per aircraft and in 1984 at a price of $25 million per aircraft. The F-16 development program now costs $30 million per aircraft, more than its purchase price. The cost of operating an F-16 fighter is $7 million annually, including spare parts and fuel.
In addition to Egypt's local production, it will simply mean that Egyptians will demand development, and thus they will claim the development cost for the Chinese side.
So some naive people and those who claim to know do not understand that the issue is very complex and very profitable for the Chinese side. Rather, it is a chance for China to get ahead of itself as a source for fifth-generation fighters that failed to penetrate the export in a real way because there is no major customer who has proven confidence in the modern Chinese fighters. Therefore, China must prove its success in exporting a major deal that opens the doors to international export. The matter will start with Egypt, then some Gulf countries and Arab countries such as Algeria, followed by countries from Central Asia and Africa. All of them will increase purchases after purchasing an air force known for its professionalism. And its ability to operate fighters efficiently always. An example of the success of the Rafale fighter was due to the Egyptian deal that opened the doors to the success of the plane. Some think that the latest technologies should not be provided to countries that want to buy weapons. Simply put, if you do not provide what the customer requests, you will not get markets or money, and you and your products will eventually fail because, simply put, the international market has competitors. Even Russia, which is subject to sanctions, secretly exports weapons and fighters and uses countries as a front for its exports. In addition, it has already succeeded in restoring its production capacity greater than before in 2022. Some consider it a relative advantage. The Russians’ distancing. The Chinese forget the factor of experience. The Russians filled their fighters with SU-35/57/34/30 models. Therefore, their return to the international market will make it difficult for them to market their fighters. Seizing the opportunity by China is beneficial for them. It is true that Egypt wants to replace a large fleet of F-16 fighters, but the Chinese offer will not be the only one. Simply put, the offer
It is true that Egypt wants to replace a large fleet of F-16 fighters, but the Chinese offer will not be the only one. Simply put, the South Korean offer is a strong competitor, even the RAFALE F5 aircraft. France will also try to provide incentives to Egypt, such as increasing local assembly rates and some advantages in exchange for increasing Egypt’s orders for it.
