China Foists Obsolete Chinese J-10C Jets On Pakistan To Counter Rafale
Pakistan is said to have bought a full squadron of 25 obsolete Chinese-made J-10C fighter jokingly for ensuring air parity with India!! The Chinese fighter may somehow match the F16 but is totally outmatched by the French-made Rafale jets that India has acquired.
Further when the IAF exclusive modifications are done then it will simply swamp the J10C. Even the latest Chinese J20 the so called stealth fighter will try their level best to avoid getting entangled with it.
The Jian 10, or J-10, is a single engine, multi-role fighter indigenously developed in China by the Chengdu Aircraft Industry between 1990 to 1998, when the first flight took place. With NATO designation as ‘Firebird’, the plane is also known as the ‘Vigorous Dragon’. The J-10C the latest variant of J-10 was inducted into the Chinese military in 2018.
This lightweight fighter is capable of operating in all weather conditions, both as interceptor and for strike missions. The aircraft features a huge delta wing and carries two canards designed to provide extra stability or control. It has a similar payload as the Russian-made MiG-29 or the US-made F-16.
The J-10C, powered by a Chinese-made WS-10 Taihang engine. Akin to F16 the mainstay of the Pakistani air force, it is better option for Islamabad because the use of F-16s comes with several riders imposed by the US, including on use against India.
A Pakistani MP, Dr Afnan Ullah has already questioned the move to acquire the J-10C, because it is nowhere the Rafale jet which IAF has acquired.
Following a joint military exercise, Shaheen-IX, with Pakistan at the end of 2020, Chinese experts had said that China’s J-10C and J-11B fighter jets could be used to simulate India’s Rafale and Su-30 fighter jets in mock battles, according to a report in the Chinese media.
A Chinese military aviation expert was cited as saying that “many aspects of the J-10C mid-sized fighter jet, including the size, aerodynamic characteristics, aviation and weapon systems and overall combat capability, are comparable to the France-made Rafale”.
The above falsehood was a deliberate act to sell the obsolete item to the Pakis.
Experts know that the Rafale heavier than the J-10C, packs “far greater” thrust, something matches the J20. The last time Indian and Pakistani jets faced off was in 2019, when a Pakistani F16 was brought down by a Mig-21 Bison. The short-range MICA-IR missile carried by the Rafale is a generations ahead of the PL-8/9 missiles used by the J-10C.
As to beyond-visual-range (BVR) combat, the Rafale is way ahead with its technologically superior radar, which has a greater detection range in excess of 200km and the tracking mode, prioritisation of targets is fully automated.
On long-range missiles, too, the Rafale holds the advantage over the J-10C. The Chinese jet uses the PL-15 missile that has a range of more than 200 km, but it is “crippled with a radar that cannot use its full potential”. The Rafale’s Meteor BVR air-to-air missile Meteor is unarguably the best in the world.
Then in the electronic warfare capabilities Rafale may be outmatching even the J20. In fact at USD 130 million, the price of one Rafale jet is close to four times that of the USD 35 million cost for a J-10C.Also the Rafale has been tried and tested in battle theatres in Mali, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq & Syria.
The fact is that PAF has accepted the J10C because they don’t have any other option.
China has entangled Pakistan through defence cooperation in recent years amid rising mistrust on the part of the US, when it comes to the sale of advanced weaponry. China and Pakistan have in fact jointly developed a fighter, the JF-17 Thunder, a lightweight, single-engine, fourth-generation multi-role jet. However, reported issues with the JF-17’s engine is the reason why Pakistan was forced to seek another class of fighter jets from Beijing.
