Chinese fighter jets soar over Egypt in first joint exercises

The sound of Chinese fighter jets roared over the Egyptian pyramids and could echo across the Middle East as Beijing wrapped up military drills with Cairo aimed at chipping away at US strategic influence in the volatile region.

China's military on Monday released videos of its fast jets, helicopters and transport planes flying high above the Sahara and hailed inaugural joint air force exercises with Egypt as “a signal of deepening military ties and shifting alliances”.

The joint exercises with one of America's biggest security partners come as Washington increasingly turns inward under President Donald Trump, allowing China to deepen ties across North Africa and invest billions in security projects.

“As Egypt looks beyond its traditional US partnership, a new era of co-operation is taking flight over Cairo's skies,” said a video released by the international division of state broadcaster CCTV as a jet plane takes off into the night.

Global Times, a tabloid owned by the newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, People's Daily, said the “Eagles of Civilisation 2025" drills had established a foundation for potential co-operation between the two countries' militaries at a time when Egypt is trying to upgrade its combat equipment, citing experts.

Analysts said the 18-day drills also help Egypt assert itself as a major regional power among the Arab nations and North Africa amid growing regional turbulence.

“It's great public diplomacy for [China], particularly in the Middle East,” said Eric Orlander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project. “It's what brings people in the door for them to sell drones, SAMs, light arms, transport, et cetera. A major regional power needs an air force, right?”

Orlander cautioned that switching jet fighter systems is very expensive, and Washington could choose to withhold financial military support from Cairo if it upped its purchases of Chinese technologies.

But the US, the primary security partner to Egypt, neighbouring Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states since the late 1970s, has made large foreign aid and investment cuts under Trump that have been keenly felt across the region.

With the Gaza crisis unfolding to its northeast, ethnic violence in Sudan to the south and political instability in Libya to its west, Egypt finds itself squeezed on three fronts.

China has pledged billions in fresh investment for projects such as satellite manufacturing facilities in Egypt capable of producing military grade surveillance equipment.

Beijing's air force said the drills represented “a new starting point and a significant milestone in military co-operation between the two countries”, in a statement marking their conclusion.

Reuters