Summary US refuses to sell F-35s to Egypt Egypt exploring options with Chinese jets Egypt could be offered US F-16s or F-15s instead Egypt may consider purchasing fourth- and fifth-generation fighter jets from China, as the United States refuses to sell formerly-promised F-35s . The United States is very protective regarding who it sells its F-35 fighters to ( several other countries in the region have been banned from purchasing it ). The United States often puts strict conditions on countries purchasing F-35s.
Egypt considers purchasing Chinese jets It is unclear if Egypt is serious about purchasing Chinese J-10C fighters (the Chinese answer to the F-16) or the FC-31 (a prototype low-end fifth-generation fighter jet still in its prototype stage). China has an export ban on its most advanced fighter - the J-20 Mighty Dragon (although there are reports Egypt has asked to purchase it). Likewise, the United Arab Emirates reportedly wants to purchase Chinese jets as the US also refuses to sell it F-35s.
"China is interested in selling fighter jets to Egypt, assuming that such deals could lead to additional transactions for military and defense products. However, some experts believe there is cause for concern as Cairo might be cautious about damaging its relations with the U.S.
if it opts to purchase aircraft from China." - Israel Defense The story of the Egyptian Air Force is an interesting one. Former President Trump agreed to sell Egypt 20 F-35s in 2018, but this agreement was later frozen due to opposition from the US Department of State and Israel (which doesn't want to see its qualitative each erode).
Egypt attempted to purchase 24 Su-30 jets from Russia. These were built, but then Egypt canceled the order out of fear of US sanctions under the CAATSA Act ( these jets seem to now be sold to Iran ). Egypt has also purchased 55 French Rafale multirole fighter jets, making it one of the largest export operators of the French Rafale.
China may be able to produce around 240 fighter jets annually made up of J-10s, J-16, and J-20s. Fighter jet options for Egypt Even if Egypt feels like there is little chance of pressuring the US to supply F-35s, there could be the chance that the US will offer F-16 Block 70 Fighting Falcons or F-15 Strike Eagles. This would be similar to how Turkey seemingly used Sweden's accession to NATO as a bargaining chip to purchase 40 new US F-16s and dozens of upgrade kits to old F-16s.
The last thing the US wants is to see its allies and partners start purchasing Chinese fighter jets. Alternatively, Egypt could wait and purchase South Korea's KF-21 Boramae fighter jet, nearing the end of its development . It is a 4.
5th-generation fighter that Korea wants to evolve into a 5th-generation fighter. Turkey is also developing its advanced KAAN fighter, but relations between Turkey and Egypt have long been sour. The US will not allow its prized F-35 to be in the same military as the Russian S-400 SAMs (Turkey was kicked out of the program for that).
Even countries using infrastructure like China's Huawei 5G network can be a deal-breaker ..
