That's a great great question, especially now that the Egyptian military -- in all branches -- has been buying major weapons systems and big-ticket platforms from other sources than the US, and in substantial quantities. If we take the navy alone and look at the 2 Mistrals at roughly $1 billion a piece, the FREMM and what, 4 Gowind corvettes so far for $3 billion? Then you have $5 billion for the 4 Type 209 submarines from Germany and what appears to be another purchase of additional Spanish-built corvettes. Add all that up and it's roughly around $10 - $15 billion worth of strictly naval platforms in just the past 5 years?
Then the EAF. 48 Rafales and respective weapons & training. What's that contract's total value? $6-$7 billion?
50 Ka-52 Alligators + weapons & training at roughly $2 billion, or thereabouts?
50 MiG-35s + weapons & training around $4 billion?
S-300VM, no idea what the number was for that but I would guess at least $1.5 billion for the 3 divisions worth?
Then all the APCs and vehicles they've been buying like the Nimrs, Sherpas, Pantheras, RG-33 Scouts and other miscellaneous weapons & platforms, throw in another $1 billion and we're not even including all the weapons they've been using for cretin crunching east & west of Egypt. There's also the 500 T-90's! Total all that up and you have about $30+ billion worth of military purchases in just the past 5 years.
Assuming the US aid is $1.3 per year, so in those 5 years, the US has given Egypt $6.5 billion in military aid while the Egyptian military went out and bought $30 - $35 billion worth of non US-built systems. What's wrong with that picture? lol.
My math could be off a little here and there, but it's probably close enough to make the comparison and get to the point of your question. Why would the US give out that kind of money when Egypt is more than capable of buying and spending 5 - 6 times as much? The answer is pretty simple; The US has special interests in having Egypt as an ally and partner in the Middle East and especially that the aid is essentially the result of the peace treaty with Israel. The United States has special interests in maintaining and promoting peace in the region and if you think about the biggest enemy Israel has ever faced, it was Egypt and has always been Egypt. So along with promoting peace come deals to incentivize that peace which Egypt and Israel benefit greatly from.
But then of course comes in the question of quality and potency of those weapons and that is why Egypt has no choice but to go to other sources while the US still has no choice but the continue supplying that aid as part of the agreement.
But, if Egypt has been able to purchase 244 F-16s in the past 35 years, and the F-16 platform has kind of come to an end while the F/A-18 and F-15 lines are actually improving with newer models, and the EAF does have purchase power as it has aptly demonstrated, and there is a need for a larger, potent and powerful fighter with greater range than the F-16, why not make some agreement where the cost would be split between the aid and straight up cash for a dozen F-15E's? I think that is very doable ESPECIALLY with this Trump administration. There hasn't been a single Republican president that has been so amicable with the incumbent Egyptian president since Jimmy Carter and he was a Democrat. We just recently saw Trump say how much he loves Sisi, then the SCALP was refused and with a few sweet words from Macron and Turmp's love for Sisi, not even 6 months later and the SCALPs were approved. Now the $190 million in aid that was put on hold for "humanitarian reasons" has suddenly been released. All signs of not only a happy relationship, but one that can be worked, and should be worked. I'm willing to bet that if the Egyptian Armed Forces put together a financial package where it would pay for half the cost of 12 or even 24 F-15s, the US would be very interested. The question is whether the EAF would be interested in something like. It would be a better financial and compatible option than going for the same number of Su-35s. Sorry for the log post, Harpcore!