Gen Fabien Mandon, Chief of the French Defence Staff, travelled to Cairo on August 24 at the head of a senior military delegation and met Egypt’s Defence Minister Lt Gen Ashraf Salem Zaher and Chief of Staff Lt Gen Ahmed Khalifa, according to Ahram Online.
The talks covered issues of mutual interest and ways to deepen cooperation across several military fields.
China deployed at least six J-16 fighters to Egypt for the drills, according to open-source tracking and imagery.
Business Insider Africa had earlier reported on the deployment, which marked a rare appearance of the heavyweight Chinese fighter on the African continent.
In a recent report, Military Watch Magazine cited local sources as saying France and other NATO members have shown interest in learning more about the J-16 and its capabilities.
However, there is no confirmation that intelligence gathering on the Chinese fighter formed part of Mandon’s visit.
France and Egypt deepen military cooperation
France remains one of Egypt’s main Western defence partners, with Cairo operating French-made Rafales and Mirage 2000s alongside US-made F-16s.
At the same time, Egypt has expanded defence cooperation with China, with the Eagles of Civilisation exercises giving both air forces an opportunity to train with aircraft built around different military doctrines and technologies.
The latest drills brought Chinese J-16s into direct training with Egyptian Rafales, allowing the aircraft to operate against each other in simulated combat.
Reports from the exercises said the J-16s demonstrated significant advantages, although those claims have not been independently confirmed.
Chinese J-16 draws Western attention
The J-16 is one of China’s main heavyweight 4.5-generation multirole fighters and forms an important part of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force alongside the newer J-20 stealth fighter.
Like the French-made Rafale, the J-16 is generally classed as a 4.5-generation fighter, but the two aircraft differ in design and role.
The J-16 is a larger, twin-engine heavy fighter with greater payload and range, while the Rafale is a lighter multirole aircraft designed for air combat, strike and carrier-capable operations.
Meanwhile, Egypt has reportedly shown interest in acquiring Chinese J-10 fighters.
Beijing, however, is said to have approached any potential sale cautiously because Cairo maintains defence ties with several major powers, unlike Algeria’s closer military relationship with Russia or Morocco’s longstanding security partnership with the United States.
