{"id":57705,"date":"2022-01-03T14:32:26","date_gmt":"2022-01-03T14:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/03\/pakistan-confirms-chinese-firebird-fighter-acquisition\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:17:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:17:41","slug":"pakistan-confirms-chinese-firebird-fighter-acquisition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/asia-pacific\/2022\/01\/03\/pakistan-confirms-chinese-firebird-fighter-acquisition\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan confirms Chinese \u2018Firebird\u2019 fighter acquisition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ISLAMABAD \u2014 Pakistan has officially confirmed its long-speculated acquisition of the Chinese J-10C Firebird fighter jet, which is slated to arrive in time to take part in the March 23 Pakistan Day Parade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rasheed Ahmed, Pakistan\u2019s interior minister, told the media last week the country acquired 25 aircraft. He linked them as a counter to India\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/industry\/2021\/12\/20\/india-fines-french-firm-dassault-aviation-over-offset-delays\/\" target=\"_blank\">growing Rafale fleet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He did not detail the value of the deal, and a source familiar with Pakistan\u2019s military acquisition programs said he does not know if the fighters were \u201cpurchased or loaned to Pakistan\u2019s Air Force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the source said, he is \u201cmore inclined to the latter, as [the Chinese People\u2019s Liberation Army Air Force] may have given a few units to the Pakistan Air Force to test on a delayed cost basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richard Fisher, a senior fellow at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, told Defense News there \u201cis imagery suggesting that finished J-10Cs at the Chengdu factory are ready for near-immediate transfer,\u201d referring to a manufacturing location in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan\u2019s interest in the J-10 spans more than 10 years. The country was first interested in the FC-20 export variant of the single-seat J-10A. This was part of the wider Armed Forces Development Plan 2015, derailed by a lack of funding under the 2008-2013 Pakistan Peoples Party administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan\u2019s interest in the FC-20 was partially driven by a need to complement its F-16, when further acquisition of that program appeared unlikely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan also reportedly examined acquiring the Russian Su-35 Flanker-E, potentially to help better cover naval operations in the Arabian Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When speculation first arose of a Pakistani J-10C purchase in early 2021, it was linked with one of the Pakistan Air Force squadrons based in Karachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">China\u2019s naval air arm, the PLANAF, operates the earlier J-10AH and J-10SH Firebird variants from shore as multirole aircraft. Though unconfirmed, Pakistan may operate its aircraft similarly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistan\u2019s Firebirds are believed to be the J-10CE export variant of the latest J-10C, featuring an active electronically scanned array radar and long-range PL-15 air-to-air missiles. Twenty-five aircraft could equip two squadrons of 12 aircraft each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Royal United Services Institute airspace analyst Justin Bronk said the J-10C will significantly boost Pakistan\u2019s air power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe J-10C is a potent modern multirole light fighter, which represents a rough Chinese equivalent to a modern F-16 Block 60\/70,\u2033 he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, he noted, it\u2019s not quite on a par with the Rafale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe AESA radar and access to the long-ranged PL-15 air-to-air missile make it a potentially serious long-range threat to non-stealth aircraft, although it might still struggle as a counter to India\u2019s Rafale at long ranges. The latter\u2019s superior kinematic performance and access to the Meteor missile [provide] a decent counter to the PL-15,\u2033 Bronk said. \u201cThe J-10C is also unlikely to be able to match the Rafale for electronic warfare capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan has officially confirmed its long-speculated acquisition of the Chinese J-10C \u201cFirebird\u201d fighter, which will arrive in time to take part in the March 23 Pakistan Day parade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":114941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":45,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,45,160,11,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3413],"class_list":["post-57705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-asia-pacific","category-daily-news-roundup","category-global","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"M2ZDQMJDBRGVBDTKDB3XQVK6UM","arc_canonical_url":"\/global\/asia-pacific\/2022\/01\/03\/pakistan-confirms-chinese-firebird-fighter-acquisition\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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