PLA Air Force elite fleet lands in Egypt for joint drill

Previously, the Chinese military had dispatched only the J-10S and J-10C, both medium-weight multirole fighters, to the continent for joint training and an air show in Egypt.

According to Aviation Industry Corp of China, the J-16 is a twin-seat, heavyweight multirole fighter developed and improved from the J-11B. Designed to meet the demands of future air combat, it has been enhanced in areas including air superiority, air-to-ground and air-to-sea strikes, battlefield awareness and coordination, electronic warfare and battlefield survivability, representing a significant improvement in overall combat capability over the J-11B series.

Public information from the Shenyang Aircraft Design and Research Institute, an AVIC subsidiary that developed the J-16 series, shows that the aircraft has a standard takeoff weight of nearly 25 metric tons, a top speed of 1,370 km per hour and a maximum flight range of 3,000 km.

Wang Ya'nan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said that in addition to the YY-20A tanker, Y-20A transport aircraft and J-16 fighter jets, the Air Force task group deployed to Egypt for the exercise also includes the KJ-500 early-warning aircraft, an electronic warfare variant of the Y-9 transport aircraft and the Z-20 tactical helicopter.

"This mixed formation is capable of conducting large-scale, systematic joint air combat operations. It demonstrates new joint operational tactics developed by the PLA Air Force during its modernization drive in recent years, as well as its high-tech combat capability," he said.

According to China's Defense Ministry, the Chinese and Egyptian air forces will hold the "Eagles of Civilization 2026" joint training exercise in Egypt from mid-August to early September. The training will focus on air combat tactics, air superiority operations, and search-and-rescue missions.