Why would Egypt want both the J10c and Rafale.
This is very natural. The Egyptian Air Force is looking for a main aircraft at a low cost. In 1980, when Egypt contracted for F-16 aircraft, its price was 11 million dollars. Egypt contracted for 42 aircraft. At the same time, Egypt contracted for 20 MIRAGR-2000 aircraft at a price of 23 million dollars. Egypt specified its requirements as 72-100 Rafale aircraft in several batches of the RAFALE model. And a main aircraft in large numbers such as the J-10/FC-31 in large numbers that may reach 240 aircraft. A light aircraft for ground support such as the FA-50. The Korean side submitted a very high price offer for the FA-50 aircraft, even higher than the price of the Polish version, the FA-50PL, as Egypt requested many modifications to the aircraft to become a light fighter with a longer range and higher equipment. The Egyptians were surprised by the price and decided to replace it with the J-10 aircraft. The price of the T-J-10 aircraft is between 50-65 million. $150 million including training, ammunition and spare parts for 5 years. Instead of Egypt developing the F-16 at a high cost including a new ammunition package, Egypt preferred a special version of the J-10 with a longer airframe life and some limited modifications and improvements to the aircraft's specifications for avionics, including the PL-15 missile production line, which is the basic condition for which China previously rejected the SD-10 missile with earlier versions.
The Rafale aircraft is expensive at $150 million, excluding the ammunition package, which makes Egypt unable to buy large quantities of it.
Air weapons always have a single-engine main aircraft. For example, America produced 1,300 F-16 aircraft and about 600 F-15 aircraft for its air force.
China produced 800 J-10 aircraft, which is equivalent to the entire J-10/15/16/SU-27/30 family. That is, the main aircraft in America's air force is the F-16 and will be replaced by the F-35 aircraft. Even with its problems, China has not found an alternative yet. The main and most numerous aircraft is the J-10
So the alternative to the remaining 30 F-70 aircraft in the Egyptian Air Force and the first batch of F-16A/B fighters may be the J-10 aircraft, the F-16BLOCK 32/42/52 aircraft is the FC-31B/E aircraft and also includes the MIAGE-2000 as a replacement
China The FC-31 aircraft will enter service in China operationally in 2-3 years, which is the period in which Egypt will need to replace the F-16 BLOCK 32 for replacement, so the one currently ready for contracting is the J-10, while the RAFALE fighters are considered to replace the MIRAGE-5 fleet, which is currently gradually being retired
Unlike any requirements for heavy air superiority aircraft, the Union
Why this large spending on advanced fighters? First, because of the existing Israeli threat supported by America in order to make the region in a state of instability with countries such as Israel and Iran, and even the Egyptian presence in the Horn of Africa to protect water resources requires increasing the number of fighters, and also in the eastern Mediterranean, a deterrent message to some not to attack the Egyptian EZZ areas and its interests. There is also another matter, countries such as Libya no longer have an air force that supported Egypt in the wars, and the same thing, Algeria's air force has shrunk, giving its borders at most its large area, meaning that Egypt will not find any air support for it from any surrounding countries. This requires providing large numbers of fighters to protect Egyptian national security as well as water security and Egypt's interests in Africa. Egypt is covering some of the gaps by expanding the possession of ballistic missiles as well as drones as complementary and temporary solutions, and fighters remain a vital matter that cannot be replaced in a way that prevents them from being replaced by UCAV aircraft for at least the next 10 years. Here we see the absence of a weapon The strong atmosphere in Ukraine made its airspace permissible, as the Russians and Lebanon cannot deter Israel, which explains the importance of fighters. Also, the instability of the region and the speed of its use, and the relationship with Israel may deteriorate quickly in general. Due to their ambitions, the final war may break out between Egypt and Israel, so the speed of introducing J-10 fighters is vital for Egypt, especially since the Russians did not provide a good development for the MIG-29M aircraft with an AESA radar suitable in its capabilities, perhaps India, but it needs years for this for experiments and also to ensure the reliability of this radar, so the Egyptian approach to China was vital and required