Egypt has no choice but to buy J-10C from China, at least 27 and at most 58
2024-09-16 21:05
With the rapid development of China's equipment technology, a batch of advanced equipment and China's fighter aircraft technology have entered the world's advanced level. The latest fighter jet J-10C exported by China has also been successfully exported to Pakistan.
The two J-10CE squadrons procured by Pakistan have been delivered in just about one and a half years, and the feedback from the Pakistan Air Force is very satisfactory.
Perhaps it is also thanks to the good feedback from Pakistan that some other countries are also very interested in the J-10C, such as Turkey and Egypt, both in the Middle East.
Earlier, there was news in Turkey that it intends to purchase a batch of J-10Cs to supplement its existing fleet, but it has not yet been implemented. However, just a few days ago, the US media revealed that Egypt, another big country in the Middle East, may have offered an olive branch to China and asked to buy J-10C fighter jets.
According to recent news from the US media "Tactical Report", Egypt is in contact with China to discuss the possibility of introducing J-10C fighter jets. The US media stated that the contact between the two parties has already begun at the end of 2022. Egypt is trying to obtain the J-10C to update its existing fleet.
In fact, the Egyptian Air Force is now facing the problem of retiring old fighters and urgently needing new fighters. The existing Mirage-5 and Mirage-2000 of the Egyptian Air Force have both exceeded their service life.
Egypt is the first overseas user of legal Mirage-2000 fighter jets. As early as 1981, Egypt purchased 20 Mirages for $890 million. These Mirages were delivered in the late 1980s and have been in service for nearly 40 years. Currently There are 17 more in service.
There are as many as 75 Mirage-5 fighter jets of the Egyptian Air Force in service at the beginning of 2022. This aircraft is a product of the same era as the J-7 fighter jet, and its service time in the Egyptian Air Force has far exceeded its service life. It's time to retire.
In addition, nearly half of the F16 fighter jets in the Egyptian Air Force, more than 100, have served for more than 30 years and have reached the retirement age. There are also more than 100 MiG-21s in service, and all major military powers have already retired these fighters.
It can be seen from this that Egypt has a very urgent need to update its existing fleet and complete the modernization. It is only necessary to update the above three models of MiG-21, Mirage-5 and Mirage-2000. Just close to 200.
For Egypt, a "big customer", all major arms exporting countries are keeping a close eye on it, and everyone wants to get this opportunity to eat crabs.
It should be said that France is the first country to eat crabs. In 2015, Egypt spent a huge amount of money to introduce 24 Rafales from France, with a total price of 5.2 billion euros!
Then in 2021, Egypt signed an agreement with France to purchase 30 Rafale fighter jets. The order was as high as 3.75 billion US dollars!
Egypt seems to be not satisfied with the French fighters, even after the introduction of 54 Rafales, Egypt also plans to introduce a newer generation of French fighters, that is, the F4 fighters that are still in the development stage, and will eventually expand the size of the legal fighter fleet. to around 100.
Of course, it is impossible for Egypt to put all eggs in one cage, and Egypt will also expand its sources of weapons.
However, there are only a handful of countries that can meet the modernization needs of the Egyptian Air Force. It can be said that there are only the United States, Russia and France, plus the potential target China, and there are only four options.
So in addition to France, Egypt will naturally choose from the other three. For Egypt, the first choice is the United States. This is mainly due to the fact that the Egyptian Air Force itself has more than 200 F16 fighter jets. The number of F16 fighters in Egypt is second only to the US military, Israel and Turkey, ranking fourth. Continue to introduce US-made fighters do not affect logistical support.
In 2010, Egypt and the United States reached an agreement to introduce 20 improved F-16C/D Block52s, but the order did not go smoothly. It was interrupted for 4 years, and the first batch of 4 were not delivered until 2014. In 2016 Annual delivery completed.
Later, in 2019, Egypt sought to purchase more advanced F35 stealth fighters from the United States, but was ultimately rejected by the United States. As a matter of fact, as long as there is Israel, as long as the Middle East region including Israel does not achieve great unity, Egypt will never be able to obtain the F35.
As for importing from Russia, it is actually unrealistic. Egypt also thought about importing from Russia. For example, in 2019, Egypt reached an agreement with Russia to spend 2 billion US dollars to import 24 Su-35 fighter jets. However, everyone knows that the United States finally intervened. Countering the Enemy Act," which blocked the Egyptian-Russian deal.
Even though Russia has already produced half of the Su-35, even if the Su-35 is already in the flight test stage before delivery, Egypt finally canceled the order, and the Su-35 that has been produced can only be placed in the Komsomolsk Aircraft Factory. on the tarmac.
This also means that Egypt's plan to obtain the latest generation of modern fighter jets from Russia has failed. Compared with the United States, Egypt is a "small arm" that cannot twist its thighs. If Egypt does not listen to the advice of the United States and resolutely introduces Russian-made fighter jets, then the United States will undoubtedly be merciless and sanction Egypt. What is the difference? Heavy Egypt is still clear.
Therefore, another option for Egypt to diversify its weapons sources is China.
For now, the fighter jets designed and manufactured by China are not inferior to the fighter jets of the United States, Russia and France. On the contrary, the technical level of Chinese fighter jets is already in a leading position. In terms of airborne radar and missiles, it is better than the above three Even better.
Now, China's main export is the J-10C fighter jet. This fighter jet has been served in large quantities in the People's Liberation Army series, and its reliability has been verified. It has also achieved zero breakthroughs in exports. Pakistan has introduced two squadrons in one go. The Pakistani army has proved in use that the J-10C can effectively suppress the Rafale fighter.
It is entirely feasible for Egypt to introduce J-10C.
The average unit price of the J-10CE obtained by Pakistan is only 50 million US dollars, while the unit price of the legal Rafale fighter jets introduced by Egypt is as high as 150 million US dollars. One Rafale is equal to three J-10Cs. There is no more cost-effective option than this.
The US media believes that the current shortage of fighter jets in the Egyptian Air Force is at least between 27-58. Because the J-10C is an excellent multi-purpose fighter, one can hold up to three or four Mirage-5, Mirage-2000 and MiG-21, and there is no need to replace it in a 1:1 quantity.
In any case, even if it is to introduce 27 aircraft, this is not a small number. If an agreement can be finally finalized, it will be of great benefit to expanding the international influence of the J-10C. Taking the lead, the J-10C export road will inevitably be smoother.
And when the development of the J-35 is completed, Egypt's dream of a stealth fighter will also be realized.
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