Egypt Orders Chinese WJ-700 Long Range Attack Drones: Major J-10C Deal Expected
Africa and South America , Aircraft and Anti-Aircraft
The Egyptian Defence Ministry has reportedly signed a contract to procure Chinese WJ-700 unmanned attack aircraft, in a potential landmark in the ongoing expansion of defence ties between the two counties. Local and Chinese sources indicate that the deal was signed in June 2025, and is set to make Egypt the second foreign operator of the type alongside Algeria. The WJ-700 has an endurance of up to 20 hours when armed, and can carry a wide range of munitions types including multiple precision guided air-to-surface missiles for ground attack roles, as well as CM-102 anti-radiation missile, and C-701, and C-705 anti-ship missiles. The jet powered aircraft is among the fastest of any unmanned design in the world, and has been particularly singed out by analysts for its potency in air defence suppression roles.
In early 2025 Egyptian military sources reported that the Egyptian Air Force had procured the Chinese HQ-9B long range air defence system, providing a new backbone to the country’s previously underwhelming surface-to-air missile network. This had potentially transformative impacts for the balance of power in the air between the country and potential adversaries. A shifting of power trajectories in the Middle East is considered a primary factor stimulating Egypt’s interest in Chinese aerial warfare assets, as Cairo has seen tensions grow with several countries in the Western world and their regional strategic partners Israel and Turkey. Western backing both for prior Israeli plans to evict the population of the neighbouring Gaza Strip, and for Turkish efforts to bolster Islamist militants in Syria and Libya, have all been considered to pose major threats to Egyptian security, as have efforts to undermine the central government in Sudan which escalated from 2019, and again from 2023.
Following multiple unconfirmed reports from late 2024 that the Egyptian Defence Ministry had signed a contract to procure Chinese J-10C fighters, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-10Cs were deployed to Egypt to participate in the ‘Eagles of Civilisation 2025’ joint air exercises alongside YY-20 tankers, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control systems, and other supporting assets. The backbone of the Egyptian fighter fleet is currently made up of obsolete variants of the F-16 fighter, which not only lack access to any post-Cold War weaponry, or to any beyond visual range weaponry whatsoever beyond AIM-7 missiles from the 1980s, but which are also strictly restricted by the United States how they can be deployed.
The retraining of Egyptian personnel to utilise new types Chinese fighter aircraft would be a considerably more complex and time consuming process than training on advanced air defence systems like the HQ-9B. Procuring both the fighters and the ground-based systems, however, would totally transform Egypt’s currently very limited ability to defend its airspace. The procurement of the WJ-700 would complement this with an advanced strike capability, and could pave the way for further procurements of a wide range of attack drone types. The extensive downgrading of Western fighters sold to Egypt, and the leading global competitiveness of Chinese drones, makes procurements of aircraft like the WJ-700 appear highly attractive. Although countries across the Western world are expected to sustain pressure on Cairo to limit its defensive capabilities by continuing to rely on a very limited range of downgraded Western equipment, recent regional tensions have made a strengthening of Egypt’s aerial warfare capabilities appear increasingly vital.
No comments:
Post a Comment