China’s PLA Air Force to visit Egypt for ‘Civilized Eagle 2025’
April 17, 2025
China’s Ministry of National Defence announced on 16 April 2025 that the PLA Air Force will send a detachment to Egypt for the ‘Civilized Eagle 2025’ (or ‘Eagles of Civilisation’) joint air force training exercise. The training will be undertaken from mid-April to early May, and is the first joint training organized by the Chinese and Egyptian air forces, though naval exercises have been undertaken.
The exercise is being held up as being of great significance to promoting practical co-operation and enhancing friendship and mutual trust between the two militaries.
Six Chinese Xian Y-20 Kunpeng strategic airlifters arrived in Egypt on 15 April, after a technical stop in Dubai. This reportedly caused concern among US strategic planners, who worried that it marked a shifting balance in Chinese influence and access. The so-called ‘Chubby Girl’ is an airlifter and tanker, and could play a part in the coming exercise.
The exercise follows major Chinese participation in the Egypt International Air Show in late August to early September 2024. The PLA Air Force sent the 1 August (Bayi) Aerobatic Team with seven Chengdu J-10 fighters as well as a Y-20 transport aircraft.
This was the first time that the Bayi Aerobatic Team had displayed in an African country, and was the farthest distance it has travelled for a foreign air show. There were subsequent reports that Egypt had bought the J-10C Vigorous Dragon fighter to augment its Western-supplied F-16s and Rafales, offering AESA radar and beyond visual range PL-15 air-to-air missiles, while costing just $40-50 million, rather less than the Rafale, for which the MBDA Meteor missile has been witheld.
China has officially denied reports that Egypt has received an initial batch of J-10s, calling these: “inconsistent with the facts. Total fake news.” It is unclear as to whether China was denying the sale, or just the delivery.
