The official think tank FSP of Pakistan revealed a worrying news: the Pakistan Air Force will expand the scale of its J-10CE fighters. This means that Pakistan will not only continue to purchase more advanced fighters, but also plan to expand the J-10CE fleet to more than 70 aircraft in the next phase, with a total purchase amount of 12.8 billion yuan. This decision will make the J-10CE the core force of the Pakistan Air Force and its main aircraft in the future. This initiative demonstrates Pakistan's commitment to strengthening its defense capabilities and modernizing its air force, and further strengthens the close relationship between China and Pakistan in the field of military cooperation.
Pakistan's evaluation of the J-10CE
After the introduction of the J-10CE fighter in Pakistan, the country's top pilots conducted a comprehensive test and evaluation of this Chinese fourth-generation and a half generation fighter, and finally Squadron Leader Obar of the 16th Squadron of the Pakistani Air Force gave his own evaluation.
Obar believes that the J-10CE has shown extreme power in both over-the-horizon and close-range air combat, and its air combat capabilities are amazing, and although there are some shortcomings, it still cannot be ignored. As a veteran pilot of the Pakistan Air Force, he has flown the French Mirage 2000, F-16C and JF-17 Thunder fighters exported to Pakistan, and has a long experience flying Chinese and Western fighters, so he has an in-depth understanding of the differences and advantages and disadvantages of Chinese and Western fighters.
Obar first highlighted several outstanding performance advantages of the J-10CE, namely over-the-horizon combat capability, situational awareness, and excellent instantaneous turning performance, which are the key performance of the J-10CE as a fourth-generation semi-close-range coupled canard wing fighter. He pointed out that even the American-made F-16C Block 52, which Pakistan has, is difficult to compete with the J-10CE in these areas, which shows that the J-10CE has a clear technical advantage over the F-16C of the Pakistani Air Force.
Obar memorably mentioned the combination of the J-10CE's AESA radar and the PL-15 active radar medium-range missile, which can be locked on and launched hundreds of kilometers before the enemy. He recalled that pilots flying the F-16C against the J-10CE usually received radar warnings from hundreds of kilometers away and were forced to maneuver to evade the PL-15 missiles with a range of up to 200 kilometers. This gives the J-10CE a significant advantage in the early stages of air combat, and the J-10CE can take the initiative even when fighting at close distances. As for the pilot's loss of the air battle in this situation, he believes that it can only show that the flying skills are too poor.
There is still room for improvement in the over-the-horizon combat capability of the J-10CE, and the Chinese Air Force is already equipped with PL-17s with a range of up to 400 kilometers, which is almost twice the range of the American-made AIM-120. Obar believes that if Pakistan is equipped with similar missiles in the future, it will be able to achieve a dominant position in over-the-horizon air combat. The detection range of the AESA radar carried by the J-10CE is also far greater than that of the F-16C radar, which has an absolute advantage in the detection ability of stealth targets.
In close combat, Obar was shocked by the J-10CE's instantaneous maneuverability, and the J-10CE demonstrated the formidable ability of the canard fighter in dogfight, even when at a disadvantage, it can use flexible nose pointing to gain a launch window. He believes that the J-10CE is equipped with a domestic turbofan 10B engine that provides it with strong power, and its vertical maneuverability performance far exceeds that of the F-16C, which is the direct benefit of the high-thrust engine.
Evaluation of Chinese fighters
After a full range of tests and evaluations of the J-10CE, Squadron Commander Obar of the Pakistan Air Force gave his final verdict on this Chinese fighter. As an experienced pilot, he has flown the American-made F-16C and the Chinese Air Force's J-10C in many confrontations, and has a deep understanding of the performance and shortcomings of the J-10CE.
Although the J-10CE excels in many areas, Obar also points out some of its shortcomings. In particular, he mentioned the problem of insufficient payload capacity of the J-10CE. Compared with similar fighters, the payload capacity of the J-10CE is insufficient, especially in terms of air superiority, and the number of missiles it carries is far lower than that of other fighters. This means that in the first wave of over-the-horizon confrontation, if it fails to hit the target with one hit, the J-10CE may lose the initiative.
Obar believes that if the opponent survives the first 60 seconds after the start of the air battle, the J-10CE's suppression ability will be significantly reduced. Although the J-10CE is equipped with the PL-10 infrared combat projectile with off-axis launch capability, the disadvantages of the canard fighter will be revealed in energy air combat. This kind of ** is not invincible, in the case of obvious energy advantages, the J-10CE will also be at a disadvantage, especially in the face of enemy fighters who also have AIM-9X and other similar equipment.
However, Obar also admits that with the operation of top pilots, the J-10CE has the ability to shoot down any air adversary.
This advanced Chinese fighter will play a key role in the Pakistan Air Force, providing Pakistan with strong air security and dealing with advanced fighters equipped with neighboring countries. Although there are some flaws, the J-10CE is definitely an advanced fighter that cannot be ignored.