As Trump upends global order, Egypt and China deepen ties with first joint air drill

As US president Donald Trump shatters the previous international order, a joint aerial training carried out by the Egyptian and Chinese air forces, the first of its kind, suggests how countries are trying to navigate an emerging new world order.

Surrounded by tensions on all sides, from Ethiopia to Israel, Egypt desires to hedge its bets and diversify military partnerships away from the US. At the same time, China's trade war with the US furthered its own interest to expand and secure what it can in markets in the Middle East region and Africa. 

The "Eagles of Civilization 2025" training, which kicked off in an Egyptian airbase on 19 April and will continue until mid-May, includes testing and validating concepts, procedures and systems, as well as joint flights to train in the planning and the management of air combat operations and exchange expertise, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Defence statement on its website on 19 April.

Yet, perhaps more interestingly, is the type of weaponry and technology spotlighted at this event. 

Eyes on Mideast, Africa arms markets

For the first time, the Chinese air force is showing off the Y-20U aerial refuelling tanker, along with the KJ-500 AWACS aircraft and the J-10B/C fighters, it said on 21 April on its China 3 Telegram channel. 

The KJ-500 is one of the China's most advanced airborne early warning platforms, developed by the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation and equipped with a modern phased-array radar system. It is based on the Y-9 medium transport aircraft and features a fixed dorsal radar dome that provides full 360-degree coverage, allowing its system to detect and track multiple airborne and surface targets at extended ranges, while also coordinating friendly aircraft during complex operations.

The KJ-500 plays a central role in modern network-centric warfare, acting as a flying command and control node that can relay information across an integrated battle space.

Presently, Egypt does not have Chinese fighter jets within its air force fleet, but does possess Chinese training planes, according to military experts approached by The New Arab.

The J-10B/C fighters and the Y-20 transport aircraft landed in Egypt in September 2024 to participate in the first edition of the Egypt International Air Show in Alamein, a World War II site that is quickly becoming a prime tourist/real estate location in north-western Egypt, near the border with Libya.

China's deployment of these planes to Egypt were the first steps of Beijing's ambitions to expand its military partnerships and promote itself as an advanced arms producer for Arab and African nations, military analysts in Cairo said.

"Combined exercises are the highest form of cooperation between different militaries," retired Egyptian army combat pilot, Gen. Hassan Rashed, noted TNA.

"China is bringing its advanced fighter jets here because Egypt is an important gateway to the Arab and African markets," he added.

This is China's attempt to answer the US's infamous F-35, a series of single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighters. 

Meanwhile, at the "Eagles of Civilization 2025" exercise, Egypt is showcasing its MiG29M/M2 Fulcrum multirole fighters. 

Egypt operates a fleet of US, Russian and French planes, but is said to be constantly seeking the most advanced military technologies, particularly air technologies, to counterbalance rival regional armies, including Israel, amid mounting regional challenges.

Military commentators usually describe Egypt as a country surrounded by 'a line of fire', given the situation in Sudan to its south; Libya in its west; the Gaza Strip in its north-east, and the Red Sea in its east.

The Egyptian army's flirtation with the Chinese planes can function as good propaganda, military analysts noted.

Rashed said if it acquires any of the new Chinese fighters, Egypt will give an "excellent" reputation to these planes and entice regional militaries to consider them in the future.

He pointed to how Egypt's acquisition of dozens of multirole French Dassault Rafale fighter jets convinced several other militaries to consider also buying them over the past years.

Converging challenges 

The training between the two nations comes at a decisive time, especially when it regards to their respective relations with the US.

China is currently embroiled in a trade war with the US, one precipitated by US President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports. It is apparently attempting to break out of the American sphere by diversifying its trade partners, including in the arms trade.

Meanwhile, Egypt's relations with the US are suffering strains against the background of Cairo's rejection to accept the forced displacement of refugees from the Palestinian Gaza Strip, in the light of President Trump's desire to take over the war-devastated coastal enclave, kick its people out and build it into a "Middle East Riviera".

In February, Trump threatened to cut off aid to Egypt and Jordan for rejecting to take in Palestinians. Egypt has been receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in US military and economic aid each year since signing a peace treaty with Israel in 1979.

One way, local observers said, the US can punish Egypt for opposing its plans for Gaza is to prevent arms sales and the supply of essential spare parts to the Egyptian army.

Tensions between Egypt and Israel are also at their highest for decades. Against the background of the Israeli war in Gaza, Egypt has warned against the prospect of Israel driving the Palestinian territory's population of over 2 million into Sinai, the north-eastern Egyptian territory that shares borders with Gaza and Israel.

On 4 March, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi alluded to possible infringements to the peace treaty in case any of its signatories forced people into the territories of the other.

Egyptian fears from the prospect of displacing the Palestinians of Gaza into Sinai has been behind Egypt's recent military build-up in the north-eastern territory, a move that is driving Israeli officials and observers up the wall.

These tensions, local analysts said, make it necessary for Cairo to diversify its military partnerships and seek credible arms suppliers.

There are also brewing tensions with Ethiopia over its Great Renaissance Dam project that could negatively impact the flow of water in the Nile. 

"Egypt has been trying to diversify its military partnerships for a long time now," Mohamed Rabie al-Dehi, a researcher at think tank Gulf Centre for Strategic Studies, told TNA.

"This diversification comes within the framework of Egypt's attempts to balance its international relations and maintain a high level of cooperation with all global players," he said.

Whether Arab or African interest for the Chinese planes remains to be seen, especially since China will face stiff competition in these markets from the US and Russia, two arms suppliers that enjoy close and decades-old military cooperation ties with these regional armies.