AWACS - Kinesisk utgave på salgsturne i Egypt - Defence Connect

 

Chinese early warning and control aircraft deployed to Egypt in major international debut

Air

08 May 2025

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By: Robert Dougherty

 

The Chinese military is making efforts to expand its global operations presence with the first international deployment of KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force personnel and aircraft were deployed to Egypt under the China-Egypt “Eagles of Civilization 2025” joint air force training in Wadi Abu Rish Air Base near Cairo earlier this month.

The exercise, a first joint training between China and Egypt, featured the KJ-500 aircraft, J-10C multirole fighters as well as Egyptian Air Force MiG-29 aircraft.

Deployment of the command and control, airborne monitoring KJ-500 aircraft could potentially indicate an increasing interest of the PRC in coordinating complex global operations, providing intelligence, and assisting global partners with military response, long-range surveillance and policing.

“This joint training is the first time that the Chinese PLA Air Force has dispatched its various types of troops to Africa to systematical conduct the joint training, demonstrating the long-range force projection, agile force deployment and systematic combat capabilities of the Chinese PLA Air Force,” according to the People’s Republic of China state media.

“During the 18-day joint training, the two sides conducted discussions and exchanges on such topics as training mode, air combat tactics and aerial refuelling operations.

“Participating troops from both sides completed training subjects, including counter-air operations, suppression of enemy air defences, battlefield search and rescue and mixed grouping, marking a new starting point and milestone for the military cooperation between the two countries.”

In addition, during the exercise, Egyptian personnel were seen in the back seat of a tandem-seat J-10S trainer version of the Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon multirole combat aircraft – potentially indicating that the PRC will market its fighter jet platforms to the country.