El Alamein Airshow Spotlights Drones and Heavy Military Hardware as West, China and Russia Compete to Pitch Arms in North Africa

According to Africanews, the second Egypt International Airshow opened this week at the El Alamein airport on Egypt's northwestern Mediterranean coast, with dozens of defense contractors from multiple countries taking part. On the show floor, a model of a twin-engine Rafale fighter built by France's Dassault sat outside the exhibition hall, displayed alongside U.S. F-15 and F-16 fighters, Russia's Sukhoi Su-57E stealth fighter, as well as various transport aircraft and helicopters. Inside and outside the halls, national pavilions densely arrayed aviation bombs and military hardware, turning what is billed as a commercial aviation showcase into a sales floor for the major powers' arms industries.

Drones formed another main axis of this year's airshow. Chinese drones and Egyptian-made drones were placed in positions equally prominent as those of manned combat aircraft, with Egypt's domestically produced Jabbar 200, Jabbar 250 and Hamza-1, Hamza-3 series all on display. The layout itself sends a signal: with the traditional fighter market dominated by a handful of Western countries and fifth-generation platforms still rare, drones offer Egypt a lower-threshold, faster-iterating pathway to seeking defense autonomy and supply diversification.

El Alamein airport sits on the Mediterranean coast, not far from Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city. By choosing this venue for this year's airshow, Egypt positioned itself as a key middle ground on the North African geopolitical chessboard—open both to traditional Western arms-sales partners and to Russian fifth-generation fighter platforms and Chinese drone technology. The diverse picture presented at the show indicates that Egypt has no intention of being tethered to a single weapons supply system, while the major powers are racing to use such platforms to consolidate their ties with Cairo.

The political cost of arms sales is always borne by ordinary citizens. France and the United States repeatedly stress human rights and the rule of law in their own rhetoric; Russia likewise claims to uphold international law and the principle of sovereignty—yet toward buyers including Egypt, all three apply permissive arms-export approvals and training assistance. This double standard has been exposed repeatedly in past regional conflicts: on the one hand expressing concern about weapons flowing into conflict zones, and on the other continuing to deliver warplanes and precision-guided munitions to governments with questionable governance records. The aviation bombs and other equipment on display at the airshow may ultimately be deployed in airstrikes to suppress their own citizens, or may be transshipped into broader conflict zones.

Russia is pitching the Su-57E to overseas sales markets, China is leveraging drone platforms to expand its footprint in North Africa, and together with high-end Western manned fighters they form a high-and-low pairing at El Alamein. Western defense firms continue to peddle high-priced fighter platforms, while Chinese suppliers offer lower-threshold unmanned systems—and this division of labor, in objective terms, dilutes the political resistance to the use of force.