On March 11, during an official ceremony with the participation of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, the first six Chinese-made J-10C fighters were accepted into the Pakistan Air Force base at Minhas, Kamra.
The aircraft participating in the ceremony were armed with PL-10 and PL-15, as far as can be seen. Judging by the information that appeared, the contract for the purchase of 25 fighters was signed on June 25, 2021, and the exact name of this export modification of the J-10C is J-10CE. However, Pakistanis everywhere just call them J-10C, VPK news reported.
This delivery is seen as Beijing’s assistance to Islamabad in countering India’s recently-acquired French-built Rafale warplanes, Hindustan Times noted.
The export of the jets was described by the state-owned maker of the aircraft as a major milestone in the export of Chinese advanced aviation equipment.
The six J-10CE fighter jets were inducted into the Pakistani air force on Friday at an event attended by Prime Minister, Imran Khan, reports in Chinese state and Pakistani media said.
The J-10CE is an all-weather, single-engine, single-seat, multirole, fourth-plus generation fighter jet.
Pakistan hasn’t said how many aircraft were bought in the deal, though authorities had earlier spoken of up to 25 jets.
“With the delivery of the J-10CEs, China and Pakistan opened a new chapter in aviation defense cooperation, and it will significantly contribute to the further deepening of the China-Pakistan All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership,” Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) said in a statement, Global Times reported.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) from 2016 to 2020, 38% of China’s total arms exports went to Pakistan, and military aviation was an important part of it.
According to AVIC, over the years, Pakistan has commissioned the J-6 fighter, the J-7 fighter and the Q-5 attacker besides joining China’s development of the K-8 basic trainer.
“In the 21st century, facing a new combat environment and the international market, China and Pakistan jointly developed the FC-1, an all-weather, single-engine, lightweight, multirole fourth generation fighter jet also known as the JF-17,” the AVIC said in the statement.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Pakistan’s Interior Minister, was the first official to announce the procurement last December when he said the newly-acquired jets would conduct a fly-past during the Pakistan Day celebration on March 23, 2022.
The Minister also made a surprising comment that “We have the J-10C… God willing, a time will come… I am not sure when the J-20C will also come to Pakistan, which will be the most modern aircraft in the world,” EurAsian Times reported.
Ahmad’s remark came only weeks after Pakistani and Turkish authorities suggested that the two countries were working together on the production of a stealth jet.
The J-20 ‘Mighty Dragon’ is China’s fifth-generation fighter and was believed to have entered mass production in July 2020. It is currently in service with PLA Air Force, having first flown in 2011.
China is a key supplier of weapons and other military equipment to Pakistan, a strategic arrangement to counterbalance India. Rasheed Ahmad had himself admitted previously that the J-10Cs are being purchased by Pakistan to counter India’s Rafale fighter jets.
