After Pakistan, now Bangladesh eyes China’s J-10CE fighter: Why it matters

A Chinese J-10 fighter aircraft rolls out of an hangar. (Image credit: Chinese military)

The Bangladeshi Air Force (BAF) is expected to acquire 24 J-10CE fighter aircraft from China. If concluded, this would be a major defence deal, not only for Bangladesh, but also for China, as this would be the second such deal for Beijing's flagship fourth-generation fighter aircraft.

Currently, only the Pakistani Air Force uses this fighter outside China.The fighter, also known as the Vigorous Dragon, was used by the Pakistanis in the 88-hour Operation Sindoor in May last year. The Chinese fighter fired PL-15 missiles at Indian Air Force fighters during the conflict, many of these Chinese missiles were recovered in the fields of Punjab. Dhaka plans to sign the deal for the fighter aircraft in August this year for a price of $40 million per aircraft.

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The procurement of this aircraft will help the BAF improve its combat capability, the force has been seeking a modern fighter to replace its F-7 fighters (the Chinese variant of the MiG-21) since 2017, according to Bangladeshi media. The BAF had in December signed a Letter of Intent with an Italian firm to procure the Eurofighter. The BAF has also considered the Chinese and Pakistani JF-17. If the Bangladeshis decide to go with the Chinese fighter, then it would slightly improve Beijing's defence export numbers that have fallen significantly as per the latest Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report.

"Bangladesh and China have had a comprehensive strategic relationship. A considerable amount of Bangladeshi equipment is of Chinese origin. Beijing has also invested a lot of money in Bangladesh through the Belt and Road Initiative".

Lt General PR Shankar, Professor at IIT Madras and former DG Artillery

The J-10 is the most prolific fighter in the Chinese Air Force (the People's Liberation Army Air Force - PLAAF) followed by the J-20 and the various domestically made variants of the Russian Flanker series such as the J-11 and the J-16. The J-10 comes with an advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar and a plethora of modern air-to-air and air to surface weapons. The fighter has a top speed of Mach 1.8 and a combat radius of over a 1,000 km.

The aircraft offers modern capabilities, but at a much lower price point compared to its western equivalents.The news of the perspective deal also comes at a time when the share of Chinese weapons sales are down considerably as reported by SIPRI and the South China Morning Post. Over 80% of the defence systems exported by China end up in Asia, 17% find their way to Africa and the remaining systems are sold to Central and South America.

Over 60% of all the platforms sold are procured by three countries, namely, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.

"China has formed a nexus with with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The military cooperation between these countries is improving, especially the Bangladesh and Pakistan leg of this relation has seen an upswing lately. India must monitor this relationship."

Lt General PR Shankar, Professor at IIT Madras and former DG Artillery

Bangladesh is increasingly becoming dependent on China for its defence requirements. A sizeable amount of the nation's fighter fleet is already of Chinese origin, as is the entirety of its tank force. Both the air defence and the artillery host considerable amount of Chinese equipment.