New Delhi: The US Division of Protection has formally confirmed that China equipped Pakistan with 36 Chengdu J-10C multirole fighter jets since 2020. The disclosure places exact numbers on what had lengthy circulated as knowledgeable hypothesis throughout army and safety circles in South Asia.
The revelation was made by the Pentagon’s 2025 China Navy Energy Report, a congressionally mandated evaluation submitted in December 2025. It has come at a time when regional air energy equations are beneath scrutiny following the Might 2025 India-Pakistan aerial confrontations, which had been codenamed as Operation Sindoor.
The report states that by Might 2025, Beijing had already delivered 20 J-10C plane to Islamabad beneath two separate orders positioned since 2020. The remaining jets are scheduled for completion and supply by early 2026. This successfully completes Pakistan’s first full J-10C fleet and establishes Islamabad as the one export operator of the plane wherever on the planet.
By formally acknowledging these transfers, the Pentagon has validated years of intelligence assessments and highlighted how Beijing’s defence exports have developed right into a strategic software with direct geopolitical penalties. In South Asia, the place air fight revolves round long-range missiles, sensor fusion and speedy engagement timelines, the arrival of the J-10C paired with the PL-15 beyond-visual-range missile has altered operational calculations alongside the Line of Management (LoC).
The report situates this growth throughout the broader context of Operation Sindoor, throughout which Pakistan claimed that J-10C fighters armed with PL-15 missiles engaged Indian Air Pressure Rafale jets at excessive ranges. No matter competing narratives, these claims positioned the Chinese language platform beneath a global highlight and led to contemporary assessments throughout air forces from West Asia to Southeast Asia.
The Pentagon’s evaluation additionally locations the J-10C programme inside China’s rise because the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter. It says that Beijing is more and more providing plane that mix superior avionics and long-range weapons at costs effectively beneath these of Western fighters, whereas avoiding the political situations and export restrictions that usually accompany US and European programs.
China’s choice to produce the J-10C solely to Pakistan reveals a deliberate strategy through which Islamabad serves a number of roles without delay. Pakistan serves as an in depth strategic companion and operates Chinese language fight aviation know-how in a high-risk setting. It additionally acts as a real-world demonstration platform, displaying the capabilities of those plane beneath contested situations.
The pairing of the J-10C with the PL-15 missile extends Pakistan’s engagement attain and compresses response instances for opposing forces. This alteration reduces conventional warning margins and raises escalation dangers in a area already liable to speedy army decision-making beneath strain.
From an industrial standpoint, the Pentagon’s disclosure reveals how China has moved past ad-hoc arms gross sales towards a extra structured export mannequin. That mannequin depends on home provide chains, aggressive pricing and platforms which have now entered actual operational use reasonably than remaining purely theoretical choices.
Taken collectively, the confirmed deliveries, the plane’s reported use throughout Operation Sindoor and the eye they’ve generated internationally level to a second the place Chinese language fighter plane are being judged much less on promise and extra on perceived battlefield relevance.
Pakistan’s Function As The J-10C’s Main Operator
Pakistan’s emergence as the only real operator of the J-10C reveals a change in its air pressure doctrine. For the primary time, the Pakistan Air Pressure (PAF) has fielded a fourth-generation-plus fighter designed round long-range and network-centric fight reasonably than conventional close-range engagements.
Developed by the Chengdu Plane Company, the J-10C is a single-engine delta-canard fighter outfitted with an Lively Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, built-in digital warfare programs and fashionable datalinks. The export model flown by Pakistan, designated J-10CE, makes use of the WS-10 Taihang turbofan engine, decreasing reliance on Russian powerplants and enhancing general fleet sustainability.
Pakistan’s choice to position orders for the plane in 2020 coincided with rising tensions with India after the Balakot disaster and India’s induction of the Rafale. The acquisition was aimed toward narrowing qualitative gaps reasonably than competing on fleet measurement.
The primary J-10C plane arrived in Pakistan in March 2022. Deliveries accelerated after 2023, and by mid-2025, the PAF had activated at the least two frontline squadrons, positioning them throughout necessary sectors protecting Punjab, Kashmir and approaches from the Arabian Sea.
The Pentagon’s report states that Pakistan has develop into the primary recipient of Chinese language fight plane and the one nation working the J-10C. This highlights Islamabad’s function as greater than only a buyer. It emphasises Pakistan’s place as an operational proving floor for China’s most superior export-grade fighter.
Value has additionally performed a job within the platform’s enchantment. The J-10C is extensively assessed to value between $40-50 million per unit, whereas India’s Rafale acquisitions have been valued at roughly $120 million per plane as soon as weapons, help and lifecycle bills are included.
Pakistan’s air management has described the J-10C as a strategic equaliser that bridges older fleets and future ambitions whereas supporting deterrence aims focussed on sustaining parity reasonably than superiority. The programme has additionally strengthened wider Sino-Pakistani defence cooperation, complementing joint work on the JF-17 Thunder, unmanned programs and shared coaching plans.
J-10C Fighter Profile In Operational Phrases
In its export J-10CE configuration, the Chengdu J-10C is a single-seat multirole fight plane designed for air superiority and precision strike missions. It measures roughly 15.7 metres in size, with a wingspan near 9.75 metres and a peak of about 4.78 metres. The plane has an empty weight of round 9,750 kilograms and a most take-off weight close to 19,000 kilograms.
Utilizing a WS-10 Taihang turbofan engine, the fighter is estimated to generate about 86 kilonewtons of thrust in dry mode and as much as 113 kilonewtons with afterburner. It’s able to speeds exceeding Mach 2, with a fight radius of roughly 1,150 kilometres relying on mission profile and a ferry vary of round 3,100 kilometres.
The plane operates at altitudes above 18,000 metres and incorporates a excessive charge of climb estimated at roughly 254 metres per second. Its avionics suite centres on the KLJ-7A AESA radar, supported by an built-in digital datalink and inside digital countermeasure programs.
The J-10C carries as much as 11 hardpoints, supporting a payload of round 6,000 to 7,000 kilograms. Its air-to-air arsenal contains short-range infrared-guided missiles such because the PL-10 and the PL-15 energetic radar-guided missile for beyond-visual-range engagements. The plane additionally helps precision-guided bombs, anti-ship weapons and laser-guided munitions, together with an inside 23-millimetre cannon for close-range fight.
Defensive options embody radar warning receivers, missile strategy warning programs and chaff and flare dispensers, all managed via a digital fly-by-wire flight management system. The export configuration flown by Pakistan contains avionics and digital warfare changes aligned with buyer agreements.
The Pentagon confirmed that finishing Pakistan’s J-10C fleet is greater than a standard arms supply. It reveals a brand new method air energy is being developed, offered and utilized in South Asia, with results reaching far past the area.