Pakistan Air Force inducts first batch of six Chinese J-10C fighter jets

Asia-Pacific, News March 12, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Pakistan Air Force inducted the first batch of six J-10C fighter jets on March 11 formally into service during a ceremony in the presence of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The induction of Chinese-made high-end fighter jets is being termed as a ‘major milestone’ by the Pakistani Air Force. J-10C is a single-engine, modern, and highly capable multi-role combat aircraft that has been in service exclusively for China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force for more than two decades. Pakistan becomes the first country apart from China to be operating J-10C fighter jets in its air force.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan along with the defense minister and Chiefs of all three military forces attended the ceremony to mark the induction of jets into the Pakistan Air Force No. 15 ‘Cobra’ Squadron.

Initial negotiations to buy J-10C fighter jets from China began way back in 2006, however, it was not until December 2020 when Pakistan announced the purchase of 25 J-10C aircraft. China managed to deliver the batch of the first 6 jets in a record time of 8 months.

*^{Pakistan Air Force J10-C Fighter Jet (Pakistan Air Force)}*

While talking about the new jets, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan stated that induction of these jets is the biggest progress for Pakistan in at least 40 years recalling the time of 1989 when the country acquired F-16 fighter jets from the U.S.

With India making the acquisition of modern Rafael jets, it became inevitable for Pakistan to upgrade its fleet of fighter jets. “We are confident that if anyone makes an aggressive move against Pakistan, it would be retaliated by the armed forces with full force,” said Imran Khan.

The J-10C is considered the Chinese equivalent of the U.S. F-16 fighter jet. J-10C has a fully integrated weapons system, avionics, and EW suite, as well as high-end Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, net-centric, and sensor fusion capabilities that enable it to detect, engage and destroy targets at long range both in air to air and air to surface domains. The J-10C aircraft can reach a maximum speed of Mach 1.8 with a range of 2,950 km. J-10C also hold the capability to carry precision-guided munitions and PL-15 air-to-air missile.

Following are some basic specifications of the fighter jet:

Length: 16.9 m

Wingspan: 9.8 m

Height: 5.7 m

Wing area: 37 m2

Empty weight: 9,750 kg

Gross weight: 14,000 kg

Max takeoff weight: 19,277 kg

Fuel capacity: 4,950 L