Originally posted by MarocMirage
Chinese officials have been in Morocco for quite a while now, negotiating about arms deliveries. Is there a chance that Morocco orders the FC-1?

There is a very interesting story concerning Morocco and the K-8 and could be related in a way to the FC-1.

The K-8E is assembled by the Egypt’s Arab Manufacturing Authority. It is a pretty large order of 80.

But the more interesting piece is that the Arab Manufacturing Authority was first developed and funded by nations across the Arab world. Although today, it is run by the Egyptian state .

Morocco is often mentioned in publications as a customer of the K-8 although there has not been a Chinese-made K-8 delivered to Morocco. It is was reported at other times that the K-8s that Morocco will receive will come from the Egyptian assembly line not from China or Pakistan.

The same might happen with the FC-1 if and when Egypt gets the assembly line (which would probably be the only reason Egypt would get the FC-1.)

Egypt’s Arab Manufacturing Authority might end up as a pan-Arab aircraft manufacturer of K-8s and FC-1s and other aircraft in the future for Arab nations like Morocco that prefer not spend on US weapons because of money or politics.

As noted above, Egypt has a very long history of pursuing a homegrown aviation industry with the HA 300 40 years ago in 1960. That was also a pan-Arab project led by Egypt but with Syria, Yemen and other countries funding a piece too. That project fell apart after a flood of Russian aircraft and then US F-16s after the peace treaty with Israel.

This time, they have a production line in place with a modest trainer, the K-8, as a foundation. So the next step could be a FC-1 line since the Egyptians have experience with a Chengdu/PAC product already in the K-8.

Strictly preformance-wise, the FC-1 has no chance in beating out F-16s for the Egyptian market. But politics and the push for a homegrown industry could allow the FC-1 to win out.

Originally posted by plawolf

as far as the ‘joke’ bit is concerned, well i guess some ppl must be getting pretty desperate for jokes to considered china putting some long overdue investment into its military as funny.:rolleyes:

No, no! You misunderstood Vortex, PLAWolf. He is saying that fingerpointing a country that doesn’t even put that much of a budget into the military like China is a joke.

He is laughing at the USA.

This is the second time you did this, Wolfie! 😀

Vortex simply has a hard time expressing his thoughts carely.

If the Egyptians buy the FC-1, it would be for the same reasons they bought the K-8, something cheap but more importantly something that they could build.

They could have gone for the Hawk for a trainer if they had wanted to. There were no political or even financial problems if they wanted them. On top of American aid, Egypt isn’t exactly a financially straitjacketed country.

For those interested in aviation history, Egypt had attempted a jet project very early with the HA 300 from Willy Messerschmitt.

The FC-1 could replace the several hundred Migs/J-7s and operate alongside the F-16 in a hi-lo mix. The F-16 is “low” only in the US.

American fingerpointing actually has become a joke because it’s hypocritical and totally out of touch with reality.

When pre-invasion Gallup polls had the US being considered by Europeans as one of the most dangerous countries in the world at the same time that the US was claiming Iraq and North Korea as threats, it is pretty funny 😀

Originally posted by google
My secret friend, an imaginary leprechaun, told me that there’s going to be a joint production of this newfangled thing soon.

Ireland doesn’t build offensive weaponry, that leprechaun must have been a gnome imposter.