In Could 1982 the Egyptian Air Drive acquired its first F-16 Combating Falcon airframes, making it the primary nation in Africa to discipline fourth era fighter plane and one of many first purchasers on the planet for the American jets. The F-16 has shaped the spine of the nation’s fleet over the previous 40 years, at present making up 9 of Egypt’s sixteen squadrons at present with 207 plane in service and accounting for nearly all fighter acquisitions between 1982 and the change in authorities within the nation in 2013. The one different purchasers to have acquired the F-16 in comparable numbers are Turkey, Israel and South Korea, though the Egyptian fleet has stood out from these of different purchasers for a lot of causes. Whereas all different purchasers manufactured important components of the F-16 domestically, with Turkey and South Korea having full license manufacturing offers whereas Israel might extensively modify and enhance the plane with U.S. assist below the F-16I program, the Egyptian fleet against this noticed few inputs from native business. Somewhat than being enhanced, the plane have been as an alternative downgraded very considerably. Though quite a few, Egypt’s F-16s at present are thought-about among the many very least succesful on the planet not solely as a result of their downgraded avionics, but in addition their armaments suites with no standoff air to floor or anti ship weapons offered to the nation. Air to air armaments are equally poor, with solely a restricted variety of AIM-7 missiles offering a past visible vary functionality – and these Eighties missiles being successfully solely out of date towards fashionable air forces at present.
The explanations for the very restricted capabilities of Egypt’s F-16 fleet are manifold, with neighbouring Israel notably having initially opposed gross sales of the fighters to the nation earlier than contemplating it essential to assist Egypt’s transition from Soviet to American arms. Whereas Egypt had obtained among the USSR’s most succesful fighters, and was set to be a number one shopper for the MiG-29 fighter and MiG-25 interceptor within the Eighties, F-16s might pose far much less of a risk to the Israeli Air Drive even when not downgraded – with the light-weight plane thought-about low finish subsequent to the heavyweight F-15s Israel was being equipped with. The truth that Egypt’s F-16s have been far much less succesful than even Israel’s decrease finish fighters took important stress off Israel’s western flank and allowed the nation to focus its army efforts from the Eighties on countering different adversaries similar to Syria, Iraq and Iran. Had Egypt as an alternative acquired MiG-29s, a fighter which was general far more succesful and wouldn’t have been arbitrarily downgraded, Israeli air superiority would have been far much less sure.
Transitioning from Soviet to American arms additionally introduced different restrictions which benefited Egypt’s potential adversaries, together with strict American controls not solely on how F-16s have been geared up but in addition on which bases they might be deployed to throughout the nation, with U.S. personnel having rights to examine the plane and their amenities. No related controls had been imposed by the Soviet Union. Earlier than buying the F-16 Egypt additionally transferred its prime Soviet equipped fighter the MiG-23 to the US, which it had been the third to obtain on the planet after Syria and the Soviet Army itself, permitting NATO, Israel and their allies to review the design and thus put together far more successfully for potential conflicts with Syria, Iraq, Algeria and different MiG-23 operators within the Arab world and past.
Egypt started to show away from the F-16 in 2013 following the overthrow of the nation’s Western aligned Islamist authorities that yr, with the air drive subsequently shifting to amass French Rafale and Russian MiG-29M fighters for its fleet. The Rafales would notably even be downgraded for Egyptian service, with Egypt being the one Rafale shopper not permitted to discipline fashionable Meteor air to air missile. This has left the MiG-29M as Egypt’s solely fashionable fighter class with a non downgraded air to air functionality, though Egyptian plans to observe the order for 3 squadrons with an acquisition of extra succesful Russian Su-35s have been notably scuppered as a result of U.S. stress. The a lot higher freedom of motion which the MiG-29 offered Egypt was demonstrated by the fighters’ deployment to Sudan in 2020 for joint workouts – with such a deployment seen as opposite to Western pursuits and forbidden for Egypt’s F-16 models. Egypt’s resolution to amass the MiG-29, alongside S-300 and BuK air defence programs and different Russian aerial warfare belongings, is believed to have been motivated each by Washington’s resolution to freeze spare components provides to the nation in 2013, in addition to by the NATO surprising assault on neighbouring Libya in 2011. The latter incident raised considerations that Egypt’s personal airspace could be equally if not much more weak than Libya’s had been.
The way forward for Egypt’s F-16 fleet at present stays extremely unsure, as does the way forward for the nation’s overseas relations, with Western stress to keep away from Russian and Chinese language weapons programs doubtlessly main Cairo to take a position extra within the F-16 fleet. An additional pivot away from the West, against this, might result in the Falcons’ early retirement and to extra acquisitions of MiG-29s and different non Western plane which aren’t comparably downgraded. Egypt’s F-16s are comfortably outmatched by the highest fighters of all of its neighbours, and regarded inadequate for roles past counterinsurgency, that means the way forward for its fleet will even largely be decided by Cairo’s perceptions of the chance of warfare with different state actors. A higher chance for such battle is predicted to lead to extra acquisitions of non Western plane just like the MiG-29M.
