Good news suddenly came from Pakistan's domestically produced J-10 fighter jets. Its Minister of Interior stated in a speech that by March 23, 2022, 25 J-10CPs from China will make public appearances. Finally, I have to step out of the country and embark on a new journey. In addition, the FC-1 "JF-17" fighter jet, which is also mainly designed by Chengfei, has its latest model "JF-17" Block 3. The first batch of eight mass-produced models will also enter service on January 1, 2022, and are expected to be publicly unveiled in March 2022. At that time, the "Xiaolong" and "Menglong" created by AVIC Chengfei Company will gather at the Ba Tie Double Dragon Gathering and fly together.

The J-10C has entered the third and a half generations of fighter jets, with comprehensive combat power not inferior to the "Rafale"

As the third-generation fighter jets used by China's aviation industry to expand its export market, the "JF-17" and "Raptors" are mainly designed by COMAC. The most significant similarity between them is that both are equipped with advanced avionics equipment developed by AVIC, as well as the new Thunderbolt 15 medium range air-to-air missile. At the same time, benefiting from the rapid development of radar electronic technology in China in recent years, both fighter jets are equipped with advanced phased array radars that match their own aircraft space and tactical planning. Both fighters have successfully entered the threshold of the third and a half generation fighter jets. For Pakistan, which urgently needs to deal with India's more than 260 Su-30MKI and 36 French Rafale fighter jets, the mass deployment of two third-generation and a half fighter jets will have an immediate effect on improving combat effectiveness.

Pakistan Air Force boarding experience with J-10C fighter jet

As an opponent that has been entangled in South Asia for decades, the Pakistani Air Force has clashed with the Indian Air Force multiple times. Thanks to well-trained pilots and excellent tactical command, Pakistan often achieves tactical victories. For example, in the 2019 border conflict, the Pakistani side confirmed the shooting down of an Indian MiG-21 and suspected shooting down a Su-30MKI without causing any losses, which immediately made a name for itself. But it cannot be denied that the gap in national strength between Pakistan and India is also very obvious. Military spending, technological strength, and resources obtained from the United States and the West are far from comparable to India, which is financially powerful. This has been particularly evident in the overall development of the air forces of the two countries since entering the 21st century. In addition, although the Su-30MKI is equipped with phased array radar, which is commonly known as the standard for third-generation and half fighter jets, its radar system is relatively outdated, and the performance of Russian made avionics equipment is significantly inferior to that of typical third-generation and half fighter jets, especially in terms of anti-interference and electronic warfare capabilities. Therefore, it has not reached the true standard for third-generation and half fighter jets. Of course, India has also planned to cooperate with Russia in recent years to upgrade and improve the Su-30MKI to a higher level of technology. However, due to the high price of active phased array radar, the two sides have not reached a consensus, and the Su-30MKI still maintains its original form.

The arrival of the French "gusts of wind" has brought great joy to the Indian Air Force

More importantly, India purchased an additional 36 Rafale F3 fighter jets in September 2016 (32 have already been delivered, with a unit price of approximately $240 million). As the pinnacle of France's current fighter jets, regardless of the high cost India paid for it, its performance is indeed excellent among the three and a half generations of fighter jets. With the continuous delivery of the Rafale F3, the balance of air power between India and Pakistan is gradually tilting towards India. For the Pakistani Air Force, which bears heavy pressure, in order to restore military balance, it is necessary to obtain third-generation and even stealth fighter jets as soon as possible. From the international political and military situation faced by Pakistan, the channels for obtaining them are relatively limited, and there are only a few aircraft models that can counter or even suppress the "Frontale" F3 and the upgraded Su-30MKI. And China will always be the trustworthy one for Pakistan!

The J-10C has been equipped with a domestically produced new type of turbofan engine

According to information disclosed by Pakistan, the J-10CP is expected to be delivered by the end of 2021. Based on the typical delivery cycle of 18-20 months for foreign fighter jets, this means that the two sides will reach an agreement around mid-2019. This milestone coincides with the Indian Air Force's acquisition of the first Rafale F3 fighter jet and the comprehensive replacement of the J-10C with domestically produced WS-10 engines, which is basically in line with some speculation from the outside world. For a long time, the main reason why Pakistan has not introduced the J-10C is that the previous J-10 has been using the Russian AL-31FM engine, and Pakistan is unwilling to introduce another set of Russian braking power support system for the sake of simplifying its logistics support system.-After improvements from J-10A to J-10B to J-10C, the performance of the 10 fighter jets has undergone earth shattering changes. With its domestically produced large-diameter active phased array radar and PL-15 medium range air-to-air missile, it is fully capable of competing with the combination of the "Rafale" F3 and "Meteor" air-to-air missiles in the air. The duckwing design layout of both fighter jets also makes their close combat capabilities almost identical. However, due to the limitations of the J-10's single engine configuration, its ability to carry heavy and bulky ground and sea attack weapons is not yet as strong as the Rafale fighter jet.

The duck wings of the 'gust' are closer to the wings

However, due to aerodynamic design issues, the diameter of the nose cone of the "Rafale" is too small, and the RBE-2AA phased array radar it is equipped with has a caliber of only about 450 millimeters. Its early model RBE-2 radar was already the phased array radar with the smallest number of T/R modules in the world, which greatly weakened its performance. The J-10CP clearly exceeds this point, with a phased array radar aperture of over 700 millimeters. With a larger aperture and more T/R modules, it brings greater power and higher sensitivity. Comparing the two, radar has become a significant tactical advantage for the J-10CP. Of course, the 'Rafale' also compensates for this disadvantage to some extent through the photoelectric kit installed on the nose of the aircraft, which includes a high magnification TV sensor for identifying individual targets and a spherical infrared search and tracking sensor for multi-target detection. Overall, the combat capabilities of both sides are roughly at the same level, but each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The victory or defeat on the battlefield depends more on the pilot's on-site performance and the coordination of early warning aircraft and other fighter jets within the combat system. The only problem is that although the price of the J-10CP will not be too high, it will not be lower than 40 million US dollars, which is not cheap for Pakistan and the procurement scale will not be too large. Therefore, the importance of the "JF-17 Dragon" Block3, which can truly be independently produced and improved, to the Pakistani side is self-evident.

As a foreign trade fighter jointly developed by China and Pakistan, the "Xiaolong" project was officially launched in 1998 and began producing the first batch of 50 Block 1 fighter jets in 2009, including 8 validation and 42 production models. But at this stage, the performance of the "Xiaolong" Block1 is relatively simple, without multi-target search capability, and cannot launch SD-10 (PL-12 export type) medium range air-to-air missiles. That is to say, the 50 "JF-17" Block 1 fighter jets produced before 2014 can only be considered as the initial models of third-generation fighter jets. Considering that the J-20 and F-35 stealth fighters were already undergoing test flights at the time of their production, this performance is actually very awkward.

The upgraded "JF-17" Block 2 after 2014 has greatly improved its performance thanks to the continuous improvement of the J-10 fighter jet, which has brought about technological accumulation. Equipped with KLJ-7 Doppler radar, it has the ability to track multiple targets and guide SD-10 to attack multiple targets. It is also equipped with an aerial oil receiver, and its overall performance reaches the level of third-generation fighter jets. In 2017, the "Xiaolong" Block3 model, which was developed, underwent a complete transformation in performance. It was equipped with KLJ-7A electronically scanned active phased array radar, which significantly improved its anti-interference and electronic warfare capabilities. Based on the previously leaked test flight data of the "JF-17" Block 3, the fuselage andThe intake ports are all laid with composite materials, which affect the structural strength and weight of the machine bodyThe quantity has been optimized to a certain extent, and coupled with the advanced avionics equipment provided by AVIC, it can indeed be considered a simple modelThree and a half generations of fighter jets.

The performance of the "Xiaolong" Block3 model has significantly improved

More importantly, as Pakistan has been responsible for the final assembly and production of the "JF-17", it means that Pakistan will gain certain maintenance, upgrade, and even mid-term overhaul capabilities, which can significantly reduce the later maintenance and usage costs of the "JF-17". Compared to the original and expensive J-10CP, the cost-effective "JF-17" undoubtedly better meets the large-scale equipment needs of the Pakistani Air Force to compete with the Indian Air Force's Su-30MKI fleet.

The relatively rare 'JF-17' and Pakistani female pilot

Of course, the 'Xiaolong' is far from perfect. The first and most significant issue among them is that the range and payload capacity of the "JF-17" are significantly insufficient. In the "JF-17 Dragon" Block3 external deployment plan announced by Pakistan this time, there is a quite surprising configuration, with 2 heavy missiles loaded on the inner side of the wing, 4 medium range air-to-air missiles and 2 close range combat missiles respectively mounted on the middle and outer sides of the wing, and a total weight of about 4 tons including the belly pod and hanger. It should be said that although the "JF-17 Dragon" Block3 can still fly with this mounting scheme and the built-in software and hardware are sufficient to support the normal use of these weapons, under this configuration, the body has great wind resistance, significantly increases fuel consumption, and the actual combat radius is extremely limited, making it difficult to play a role in actual combat. Moreover, its movements in the air will be clumsy and slow, making it difficult to execute many aerial tactical maneuvers.

Source: Military of Strong Countries