Pakistan confirms acquisition of Chinese J 10C 'Firebird' fighter jet

Pakistan has officially confirmed acquisition of 25 Chinese J-10C fighter jets that are expected to arrive in March to take part in 23rd March Pakistan Day Parade.

Pakistan was initially interested in FC-20 export variant of the single-seat J10A to compliment its F16s. Pakistan also examined acquisition of Russian SU-35 Flanker-E to better cover the naval operations. However, after detailed comparison, Pakistan finally decided to acquire state of the art Firebirds.

Pakistan's Firebirds are likely to be the J-10CE export variant of the latest J-10C, featuring an active electronically scanned array radar and long-range PL-15 air-to-air missiles. 25 aircraft could equip two squadrons.