J-35A fighter (PLAAF) + FC-31 thread

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Andy1974

Senior Member
Registered Member
FriedRiceNSpice said:
J-35 to Pakistan would expedite India's acquisition of 5th generation fighters, which actually makes things more complicated for both China and Pakistan. Currently, a few squadron of J-10C is enough for the entire IAF to stand down. If IAF were to fast track acquisition of either Su-57 or even F-35, then China would also need to deploy J-20/J-35 to WTC. The strategic decision is to delay J-35 to Pakistan for as long as possible.
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I used to think this too but now I prefer the idea of J-35 vs a larger India previous generation force to be balanced. In other words; J-35 can balance a numerical superiority, but technically inferior force. This allows smaller countries to have balance with larger ones.

I don’t think F-35 is available for India, and even if it in the future, then the best time for Pakistan to get the J-35 is actually now, not then.

The other thing is, and this is not often mentioned, is that India is not the only serious security threat to Pakistan, the US is also.

The J-35 isn’t designed to keep India at bay, but the USA.
 
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T.C.P

New Member
Registered Member
If any Middle Eastern Oil nation bites on the J-35, I fully expect China to prioritize those export birds, for a number fo reasons.

1. Cash- Straight up cash. The Mid east is loaded and will overpay for fighters without questions asked. China is very rich now, but saying yes to double-digit billion dollar deals that include wider acceptance of Chinese military products is a no brainer.

2. Strategic shift- People underestimate how big of a deal it would be for the Mid east nations to switch to Chinese birds over Western ones. Mid East nations literally keep the European aviation industry alive. The blow J-35 adoption would make for the Euro military aviation sector is not to be understated. Take the GCAP for example. Uk has repeatedly said they intend to export the bird widely. Who in the world outside of the development partners can even afford it?? Saudi is gauranteed to be the main target customer for the GCAP. They bought the Tornado, Typhoon etc. Saudi putting in an order of say 80-100 J-35s would seriously hurt the GCAP and FCAS export potential.

Chinese export of J-35s would tie the mid east military complex to China closer and is a multi decade commitment, it would be a major challenge to the US and over all Western geopolitcal strength.
 
Gloire_bb

Gloire_bb

Major
Registered Member
GiantPanda said:
Remember, PLAAF attention was always on the J-20 and its production. The J-35A, in my opinion, is "good to have" but not critical for the PLAAF.
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It indeed was.

J-20 was the critical enabler to break emerging F-35 mass in a defensive scenario, which it apparently achieved. But what you do after you succesfully got to that goal?
When you can afford offensive action, you need sorties, numbers, and (potentially) force regeneration (i.e. compensating losses). This is a point where J-35A emerges, and there is visible urgency to get it into production.

J-35a may have been an unwanted child before, but now it is evidently not the case anymore.
 
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ACuriousPLAFan

Brigadier
Registered Member
GiantPanda said:
Remember, PLAAF attention was always on the J-20 and its production. The J-35A, in my opinion, is "good to have" but not critical for the PLAAF.
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When the J-35A was still in its FC-31 and J-35 V2.0 forms, yes.

But not anymore with the current J-35A. And especially not when everyone around China is becoming increasingly eager to get their hands on more 5th-gen and 4.5th-gen fighters.

Also, China is now both wealthy enough and sophisticated enough to afford the procurement and operation of both the J-20/A/Ss and J-35As in the PLAAF. And China certainly needs that mass to ensure that she has (at the very least) a slight upper hand in any case of major conflict in the WestPac for the foreseeable future.

Besides, @Gloire_bb has provided very good explaination on the J-35A's roles in the PLAAF.
 
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ACuriousPLAFan

Brigadier
Registered Member
LOCKSMITH said:
yankeesama：
J35AE has already made its maiden flight.
The first customer is not pak.
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If the claim is indeed true, there's one thing I could think of:

The only worse thing (at least in the minds of the Pakistani version of the Jai Hinds) than not getting the J-35AE is seeing others getting the J-35AE before you.


Either way, I suppose the podcast is paid, since I couldn't find it on Bilibili.
 
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