Egyptian pilot on board China's J-10 fighter jet renews arms sale speculation
Footage that appears to show an Egyptian military officer sitting in a
Chinese fighter jet during the joint Eagles of Civilisation 2025 exercise has fuelled speculation that Cairo might be considering adding the J-10C to its air force.
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The carefully presented scene was released on Monday by China's state broadcaster CCTV and showed the officer in the back seat of a tandem-seat J-10S – the trainer version of the
Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon multirole combat aircraft – as it prepared for take-off.
The 18-day exercise, which concluded on Sunday, was the first joint air training between China and Egypt, a long-standing ally of the US in the Middle East, and was seen by analysts as an indicator of the possible sale of Chinese jets to the North African nation.
The exercise followed months of back-and-forth reports about Cairo's potential purchase of the latest model J-10C, which has been compared to upgraded versions of the US F-16 Fighting Falcon and was also deployed to Egypt for the joint training.
China's close ally Pakistan bought a batch of J-10C jets in 2021 and a deal with Egypt would not only expand Beijing's arms exports to a key US ally, but could also reshape the regional geopolitical landscape, analysts said.
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Chinese military analyst Fu Qianshao, who noted that it was rare for a foreign pilot to be invited to sit in the back seat of a J-10S, said the move signalled mutual trust and friendship between the two militaries.
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