(By Tai-yuan Yang, Contract Research Fellow of the Institute of Chinese Communist Studies)
On April 16, 2025, the Ministry of National Defense of China announced: "Following a mutual agreement between China and Egypt, the air forces of both countries will conduct the joint training exercise ‘Eagles of Civilization - 2025.’ This marks the first joint military training between the two countries and holds significant importance for promoting practical cooperation as well as enhancing mutual trust and military friendship." The China-Egypt joint training is scheduled to take place from mid-April to early May at the Wadi Abu Rish Air Base in Egypt’s Beni Suef province. The training program includes mission planning for aerial combat, air combat operation management, efficient command execution, theoretical lectures, practical seminars, joint flight operations, basic maneuvers, air combat training, joint air strikes, aerial refueling, air support, battlefield search and rescue, coordinated operations, and tactical confrontation drills. On April 19, both sides jointly conducted exercises including air combat training, aerial refueling, air support, battlefield search and rescue, professional knowledge exchange, and air combat skills exchange. The joint training will officially commence on April 27 and will continue until early May.
On April 14, 2025, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Air Force dispatched a training formation consisting of one KJ-500 airborne early warning aircraft from the Special Mission Aircraft Regiment (based in Golmud, Qinghai), one YU/YY-20A aerial refueling aircraft (tail number 11550) from the 12th Regiment of the 4th Air Transport Division (based in Qionglai, Sichuan), five Y-20 transport aircraft (tail number 11252); six or more J-10C fighter jets from the 18th Aviation Brigade (based in Tianshui, Gansu), an unknown number of J-10S fighter jets from the 177th Aviation Brigade of the Air Force Flight Test Training Base (based in Cangzhou, Hebei); and helicopters from the 5th Transport and Search-and-Rescue Regiment (based in Chengdu, Sichuan), with unknown types and quantities. To ensure efficient deployment of equipment and personnel for joint exercise, the Western Theater Air Force adopted a mixed formation of aerial transit and air transportation. The formation departed from Urumqi Airport in Xinjiang, flew through the airspace of Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and made a stopover at the Minhad Air Base in the UAE. After crossing Saudi Arabia, it flew directly to the Wadi Abu Rish Air Base in Egypt’s Beni Suef province (approximately 70 km south of Cairo and about 30 km from the Suez Canal). The base is equipped with two bidirectional runways (designated 01/19), each 3,025 meters in length. On April 15, the PLA Air Force formation completed its full personnel and equipment deployment at Wadi Abu Rish Air Base, followed by the unloading of equipment and supplies and ground flight preparations. The total flight distance exceeded 6,000 kilometers. This long-range maneuver demonstrated the PLA Air Force’s ability to conduct operations far from its homeland and adapt to diverse environments, involving complex air route coordination, logistical support, and cross-regional command and control capabilities, making the deployment itself a realistic, combat-oriented long-range strike exercise.
The Egyptian Air Force deployed MiG-29M/M2 multirole fighter jets for the joint training, as Wadi Abu Rish Air Base itself serves as a MiG-29 station. All of Egypt’s MiG-29s are assigned to the 104th Tactical Fighter Wing, which comprises the 42nd Squadron, the 44th Squadrons, and the Aviation Training Center. Based on the arm patches visible in released joint training photographs, personnel from all three units under the 104th Tactical Fighter Wing participated in the exercise. The photos also indicate that both the Chinese and Egyptian militaries appointed major general-level officers as leading commanders. The Egyptian Air Force’s current commander, Lieutenant General Nasser Hamed was among them, reflecting Egypt’s high emphasis on this joint training. However, the Egyptian Air Force did not deploy its Rafale fighters for this exercise. These jets are from the 203rd Tactical Fighter Wing, which includes the 34th Squadron (based at Gebel el-Harbat) and the 36th Squadron (based at Basuhr Air Base).
"Eagles of Civilization - 2025" is PLA Air Force fourth international joint training program. The other three joint training exercises are the China-Pakistan "Shaheen" joint training, the China-Thailand "Falcon Strike" joint training, and the China-UAE "Falcon Shield" joint training. With the rapid advancement of the PLA Air Force’s modernization and tactical-technological capabilities, particularly in stealth fighter jets, electronic warfare, and precision strikes, the gap with Western countries continues to narrow. As a result, an increasing number of countries are expected to seek joint training, technical exchanges, and military procurement with the PLA Air Force. International joint training exercises are likely to become a "new normal" for the PLA Air Force.
During the force maneuver phase of the “Eagles of Civilization – 2025” joint training, the PLA Air Force successfully flew through the airspace of Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, reflecting the deepening political trust between China and these countries. Notably, the tacit approval and cooperation from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, traditional allies of the United States, highlight a growing trend among Middle Eastern countries to pursue strategic autonomy and diversified diplomacy. In other words, China is gradually integrating itself into the Middle Eastern security framework through arms sales and military cooperation. In March 2025, China conducted the “Security Belt – 2025” joint exercise with Iran and Russia. Through “Eagles of Civilization – 2025,” the PLA aims to deepen its military ties with Egypt, thereby establishing a strategic layout of "linking with Iran in the west, stabilizing Saudi Arabia in the east, and securing Egypt in the south." This approach seeks to bolster China’s presence in the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. By employing a "blunt knife penetration (salami-slicing)" strategy, which involves the military equipment integration, institutionalized joint exercises, and security-linked infrastructure, China is incrementally establishing a non-Western security cooperation network to decrease the United States’ military dominance in the Middle East.
The force projection for the "Eagles of Civilization – 2025" joint training exercise marks the PLA Air Force’s first intercontinental military maneuver of such scale. To ensure timely arrival in Egypt, the PLA adopted a mixed-formation model combining "aerial transit and air transportation." It formed a four-in-one operational unit with Y-20 aircraft for transport, KJ-500 for airborne early warning and command, J-10C/S fighters for air superiority and maritime strike, and YU/YY-20 for endurance support. This "transport + early warning + strike" closed-loop system also validated real-combat skills such as large formation flights in complex environments and aerial refueling in unfamiliar airspace. It shows that the PLA Air Force has shifted from "single-platform operations" to "system-based confrontation," clearly outlining its transformation into a strategic air force and its efforts to develop "global power projection" capabilities. In other words, from Serbia to Egypt, the flight trajectory of the Y-20 fleet is sketching out the emerging framework of PLA’s “strategic air force” which is no longer limited to homeland defense but capable of delivering a "deterrent presence" and "constructive intervention" in global hotspots. Through this force projection operation, the PLA Air Force aims to send a clear message to the world: China now possesses the military capability to safeguard its interests and influence regional dynamics on a global scale.
The PLA Air Force dispatched its main active-duty fighter jets to the Middle East for participation in the “Eagles of Civilization – 2025” joint exercise. It intends not only to advance its intercontinental operational capabilities, but also to showcase the strong performance of its military equipment to attract potential foreign buyers. The “KJ-500 + J-10C” combination is probably the equipment that China aims to market to the Egyptian Air Force. Based on typical PLA practice, weapons and systems offered for export are usually from the previous generation of equipment. This suggests that the "KJ-700 + J-35" may have already been introduced in limited quantities into the PLA Air Force’s arsenal.
（Translated to English by Tracy Chou）
