Now Reading: China’s J-16 jet joins Rafales in Egypt air exercise
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China’s J-16 jet joins Rafales in Egypt air exercise
China's J-16 fighter is taking part in joint air exercises with Egypt's French-made Rafale jets, as the second edition of the Eagles of Civilization drill began on August 22 at multiple Egyptian…
China's J-16 fighter is taking part in joint air exercises with Egypt's French-made Rafale jets, as the second edition of the Eagles of Civilization drill began on August 22 at multiple Egyptian air bases. The Egyptian Armed Forces said the exercise focuses on aligning combat concepts rather than staging direct comparisons between aircraft, involving joint sorties and planning of air-combat operations.
The deployment follows scrutiny of China's J-10C fighter during the 2025 India-Pakistan conflict. Pakistan claimed its J-10Cs shot down multiple Indian aircraft including Rafales. India acknowledged aircraft losses but rejected the scale of Pakistan's account. Defence Secretary RK Singh said reports of Rafales being shot down were "absolutely not correct." India later said its forces shot down five Pakistani fighter jets, a claim Pakistan disputes.
The J-16 is a 4.5-generation fighter built by AVIC Shenyang with modern avionics and radar. Egypt framed the exercise as part of its wider joint training programme with friendly nations, focused on cooperation and operational learning. The drills are scheduled to run for several days.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Having four foreign air forces operate Rafales, France itself, Egypt, Qatar, and India, creates a natural testbed for China to observe the platform's behaviour at close quarters. Egypt's choice of partner is diplomatically meaningful: Cairo has historically balanced its military procurement between Western suppliers (France, the United States) and Eastern ones (Russia, China). Joint exercises with two rival Rafale users signal that Beijing is not merely a customer but an operational peer. The Eagles of Civilization series began in 2017, and this is only the second edition, underscoring the step-up. What happens next depends on whether any simulated engagement data from these drills seeps into publicly observed performance claims, which would be the first concrete signal of how Chinese avionics stack up in a controlled environment against a platform India also fields.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
