China will reportedly supply 40 Shenyang J-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets to Pakistan. With the J-35 induction, Pakistan joins a small group of countries operating stealth technology. The Indian Air Force (IAF), which currently lacks any stealth fighters in operational service, is still at least a decade away from inducting its indigenous fifth-generation stealth aircraft – the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Official estimates place the AMCA’s induction around 2035.
NDTV spoke to senior IAF veterans for insight into the implications of this development and to assess India’s operational preparedness to tackle fifth-generation stealth fighters.
Group Captain Ajay Ahlawat (Retd.), a former IAF fighter pilot and defence analyst, confirmed the developments with regard to Pakistani pilot training in China.
“Pakistan receiving these jets is not a surprise at all because their team of nominated fighter pilots have been in China for more than six months,” he said. “They were training on the type before they were inducted. It was reported that the version that China will give to Pakistan is the FC-31, a slightly toned-down version of the J-35, which is practised across the globe. Nobody gives the full version.”
The FC-31 is an export variant of the J-35 and is widely understood to possess reduced capability compared to the frontline aircraft serving the People’s Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF).
The Indian Air Force has long maintained air superiority over Pakistan, based on superior training, tactics, and a more diversified inventory. The J-35 deliveries threaten to narrow that advantage.
“It’s worrying news,” Group Captain Ahlawat said. “Ever since independence, we have fought a very hard battle in the procurement sphere to retain an edge over at least Pakistan, if not China. And any version of J-35 in Pakistani colours is going to raise concerns on our side. It’s concerning.”
“Unfortunately, we have only two bad choices, the F-35 and the Su-57. The only good choice is the AMCA. The only way we can get past this problem is to give it a national mission-mode push and get it online as soon as we can.”
The AMCA, an ambitious twin-engine stealth fighter programme being developed by India’s Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with the air force and navy, is still in the early stages of development. Prototype roll-out is targeted for 2028-29, and full induction is not expected before 2035.
