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China's J-16 Meets Rafales in Egypt Air Exercise
China's J-16 fighter deployed to Egypt for joint drills with France's Rafales, marking the longest-range mission for the 'Hidden Dragon' and a rare face-off with a Western platform.
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China's J-16 fighter jet, nicknamed the 'Hidden Dragon', is training alongside France's Rafales in Egypt this week in a rare encounter between a Chinese frontline platform and a Western-made combat aircraft. The exercise, called Eagles of Civilization 2026, began Saturday at several Egyptian air bases and will last several days, the Egyptian Armed Forces said in a statement.
The J-16, a twin-seat multirole fighter built by AVIC Shenyang, regularly patrols China's east coast and flashpoints such as the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, according to the South China Morning Post. This is the first time the heavy fighter has traveled to Africa for joint training. Last year, China sent lighter J-10C fighters to the same exercise.
Egyptian photos showed the J-16 alongside Dassault Rafales, offering Chinese pilots a direct comparison with a Western 4.5-generation platform. Bloomberg reported the deployment as a rare chance to test the J-16's capabilities against a Western aircraft in a training environment.