Pakistan receives a first batch of J-10 fighters
A photo released by the Pakistan government showing the induction ceremony for Pakistan’s first J-10C fighters. (ISPR)
China achieved its first sale of J-10 fighters last year, to its closest ally across the Karakoram Mountains.
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) held a ceremony to receive its first six J-10C fighters, confirmed to be of J-10CE nomenclature, on 11 March. These aircraft were purchased from China.
The two-tone grey-painted aircraft, with serial numbers ‘22-101’ to ‘22-106’, touched down at Minhas Air Base in Kamra, Punjab Province on 4 March. They were formally inducted a week later, with Prime Minister Imran Khan in attendance.
More J-10Cs will likely arrive in the coming days. Indeed, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said in a press conference on 29 December 2021 that 25 J-10s would be inducted in time
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