K-8 aircraft of Egyptian air force is made in China

CAIRO, July 12 (ChinaMil) -- The K-8 airplanes of the Egyptian Air Force were doing aerobatic performance over the sky of Cairo, capital of Egypt, on July 7, 2013. As a basic jet trainer designed and manufactured by China, the K-8 aircraft can take up the responsibility of all the basic training and part of the advanced training for pilots, meanwhile, it can also shoulder the training mission of weapon usage.

The Chinese K-8 trainer was jointly developed by the China National Aero-technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), the China Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company (CNAMC) and Pakistan. It is a basic advanced jet trainer and tandem two-seat mid-class trainer/light air-to-ground strike aircraft, designed and manufactured by the CNAMC.

K-8 aircraft was successfully exported to Pakistan, Myanmar, Zambia, Namibia and other countries. The letter "K" in the code number of "K-8", instead of usual letter "J" for trainer, stands for the Karakorum Mountains in the border between China and Pakistan.

The CATIC signed up a co-production contract for 80 K-8E aircraft with the Egyptian Defense Ministry in 1999 and established an aircraft research and development center in Egypt. In 2004 when the co-production contract of the 80 K-8E aircraft was drawing to the end, China and Egypt signed up another co-production contract to purchase additional 40 K-8E aircraft.

On May 26 of 2010, a ceremony was held in Cairo for the delivery of the 120th K-8E military trainer jointly manufactured by China and Egypt, which marked the successful accomplishment of the K-8E advanced trainer project jointly manufactured by China and Egypt. The K-8E project was not merely a significant embodiment of China-Egypt strategic cooperation but also a successful example of China-Africa cooperation.

Lt. Gen. Hamdy Waheeba, chairman of the Arab Organization for Military Industrialization (AOMI) in Egypt, said that the cooperation in the last decade has made the ratio of localized manufacture of K-8E reach as high as 94 %, which has made Egypt's dream of self-manufactured aircraft come true.

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