The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) has received the 120th and final K-8E advanced training aircraft from China as part of the Sino-Egyptian co-production programme.

In 1999, the Egyptian Defense Ministry signed an agreement with the Chinese Aviation Technology Import-Export Cooperation (CATIC) to develop 80 K-8E aircraft in the first phase and 40 in the second.

The programme began after the EAF selected the K-8E aircraft as its main trainer to replace the Czech L-29 , according to the Xinhua news agency.

The K-8Es were manufactured at the Aircraft Factory of Egypt and an aviation research centre has been established.