China, Pakistan changing balance of power in South Asia Islamabad joins elite aviation club

The Malaysian website Defence Security Asia has published an article on defence cooperation between China and Pakistan. Caliber.Az shares with its readers the selected excerpts from the piece.

In a landmark defence development set to reshape the strategic aerial balance of South Asia, China is reportedly poised to deliver its next-generation J-35A stealth fighter jets to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) within the coming months.

According to a senior Pakistani government official quoted by Janes, the first batch of J-35A fighters—developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC)—is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan imminently, marking the first export of a Chinese-built fifth-generation combat aircraft to any foreign military.

“Pakistan Air Force pilots are currently in China undergoing training to operate and fly the J-35A stealth fighters,” the official confirmed, underscoring the advanced stage of operational readiness between the two close defence partners.

However, the official declined to disclose the procurement terms or the timeline of the agreement signed between Islamabad and Beijing, reflecting the high-level confidentiality surrounding this strategic transfer.

Although never inducted by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the J-35A has served as a pivotal technology demonstrator and bridge to more advanced Chinese stealth fighter developments.

Initial prototypes of the J-35A were powered by Russian-supplied RD-93 turbofans, also used on the JF-17, but later variants are reported to utilise domestically built WS-13E engines, delivering improved thrust and better mission endurance.

As Defence Security Asia has previously reported, Beijing has decided to accelerate the timeline for J-35A deliveries to Pakistan, aiming to ensure that the first aircraft are inducted by the first quarter of 2026—six months earlier than originally anticipated.

Citing sources within the Pakistan Air Force, the report suggests that the fast-tracked delivery reflects a strategic imperative to rapidly upgrade Pakistan’s air combat capabilities amid intensifying regional tensions and India’s expanding Rafale and Su-30MKI fleets.

“With Beijing accelerating the delivery schedule by six months, Pakistan is now expected to receive its first batch of fifth-generation J-35A stealth fighters by early 2026,” the source disclosed.

Several reports indicate that the J-35A will be armed with China’s latest beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, the PL-17—a weapon designed to neutralise high-value airborne targets at unprecedented distances.

The PL-17, also known in some sources as the PL-XX, is considered the most advanced very-long-range air-to-air missile (VLRAAM) ever developed by China, with a reported range exceeding 400 kilometres. The missile is specifically designed to engage critical support aircraft such as AWACS, aerial refuelling tankers, and electronic warfare platforms from standoff distances well beyond the reach of Western analogues like the AIM-120D or Meteor.

Incorporating a sophisticated multi-mode seeker with active radar, infrared guidance, and satellite navigation for mid-course updates, the PL-17 significantly enhances the lethality of Chinese and allied fifth-generation air combat doctrine.

This weapons integration suggests that the J-35A will not merely serve as a stealth air superiority fighter, but as a long-range strategic interceptor capable of denying the Indian Air Force and its allies key aerial enablers in a high-threat battlespace.

Previously, Defence Security Asia reported that Pakistan is expected to acquire 40 units of the J-35A, with full delivery scheduled over a two-year timeframe, concluding by end-2026.

At this stage, however, no formal confirmation has been issued by the Pakistan Air Force, the Government of Pakistan, or SAC, with most updates sourced from authoritative but unofficial military and diplomatic channels.

If confirmed, the J-35A’s export to Pakistan would represent a significant milestone for China’s arms industry, establishing it as the first non-Western nation to export a fifth-generation fighter aircraft and bolstering its reputation as a global defence supplier.

Pakistan had signalled its interest in the J-35A as early as 2024, when Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar publicly stated that the J-35A —would “soon become part of the Pakistan Air Force.”

The J-35A’s entry into Pakistani service marks a turning point in the country’s defence modernisation agenda, offering advanced low-observability features, internal weapons bays, networked warfare capabilities, and a scalable platform for future upgrades.

Built as a single-seat, twin-engine stealth fighter, the J-35A was envisioned to operate in complex electronic warfare environments, acting as a key data-sharing node in modern combat networks. It is designed to detect and track adversary stealth aircraft, relay sensor data to ground-based air defence systems, and enable cooperative targeting across platforms—a concept mirroring the USAF’s “loyal wingman” and Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) principles.

The navalised variants of J-35, in particular, is built for CATOBAR operations from aircraft carriers such as the Type 003 Fujian-class and features key modifications including folding wings, strengthened landing gear, an arrestor hook, and a wider bubble canopy for improved carrier visibility. Powered by the newly developed WS-19 turbofan engine, the J-35 offers reduced infrared signature, improved thrust, and potential thrust vectoring—features that would greatly enhance its survivability and dogfighting performance in carrier-based operations.

Equipped with a Chinese AESA radar, enhanced electronic warfare systems, and seamless data link connectivity to PLAN assets, the J-35 is China’s direct response to the U.S. Navy’s F-35C and could dramatically shift naval air power dynamics in contested waters such as the South China Sea.

Both the J-35 and J-35A exemplify Beijing’s ambition to create a world-class stealth fighter force, one that is not only indigenously produced but increasingly available to allied and partner states as an alternative to Western combat aircraft.