PAF J-35AE - News, Updates and Discussions

[HH-9A]

First time in history that the balance of air power will actually be massively in Pakistan's favour.

Honestly speaking, building such a capability is never cheap, that’s why I suspect Gulf funding should have played a pivotal role in enabling this happen.

 

[Yasser76]

Honestly speaking, building such a capability is never cheap, that’s why I suspect Gulf funding should have played a pivotal role in enabling this happen.

Yeah, no idea of the final bill here but surely upwards of $10 Billion I imagine right?

 

[Michael]

Once J35AE is deployed, the power provided by twin WS19 engines will beat the single F135 of F35......

Long ago, I stated on this forum that the WS-19 engine would not be exported. The export variant of the FC-31/J-35 will be powered by the WS-21 engine.

The video footage recently brought to light serves to validate this assertion.

There exists a significant divergence of opinion between AECC and AVIC regarding whether the export of the WS-19 engine should be permitted. For the time being, AECC has prevailed.
However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that, years down the line, AECC may eventually consent to the export of the WS-19 engine.

 

[Ibbi32]

Then what is the gen of SU57? No super-cruise, no stealth, no modern avionics, no AESA radar, no link 16.....

4.5 at best.

Link 16 is a nato standard system lol the russians have their own datalink and su-57 is one of the best network centric platforms because of it. In fact its much better than the f-22 at. It has super cruise bro but only mach 1.2 iirc. Its more of an issue of it not meeting russian requirements of super cruise at low altitudes. Su-57 has arguably the best avionics suite in any fighter in service simply because of the complete breadth of different systems integrated, partially because it also acts as a test platform. Felon has an aesa bro but im sure its unsatisfactory and behind western and Chinese systems because how much russia lags behind. And this issue of stealth is stupid because its more stealthier than any 4-4.5 gen by a wide margin even if it falls behind comparitive 5th gen platforms its closer to them than it is to a rafale.

 

[MH.Yang]

People underestimate the felon too much. So much talk of exposed rivets and rcs translates into just ridiculous cope of it not being a proper 5th gen. Its behind in many ways but calling it non-stealth is just in poor tatse

The unit price of Rafale purchased by India in 2016 was 260 million US dollars.

The unit price for purchasing Su-57 from Russia is between 40 million and 60 million US dollars. The price for Algeria to purchase Su-57E is 120 million US dollars.

But India prefers Rafale.

 

[HH-9A]

Long ago, I stated on this forum that the WS-19 engine would not be exported. The export variant of the FC-31/J-35 will be powered by the WS-21 engine.

The video footage recently brought to light serves to validate this assertion.

There exists a significant divergence of opinion between AECC and AVIC regarding whether the export of the WS-19 engine should be permitted. For the time being, AECC has prevailed.
However, the possibility cannot be ruled out that, years down the line, AECC may eventually consent to the export of the WS-19 engine.

Possible given WS19, being a new engine, needs time to boost production. However, I doubt the restrictions are due to technology concern, as performance lies mostly in the components of the engine, which are hard to copy if you don’t have relevant industrial capacity to fabricate.

Another consideration for exporting WS21 instead of WS19 is that WS21 is deeply derived from the power plant that currently is used for JF17, thus, may be easier for PAF to maintain.

 

[Yasser76]

Possible given WS19, being a new engine, needs time to boost production. However, I doubt the restrictions are due to technology concern, as performance lies mostly in the components of the engine, which are hard to copy if you don’t have relevant industrial capacity to fabricate.

Another consideration for exporting WS21 instead of WS19 is that WS21 is deeply derived from the power plant that currently is used for JF17, thus, may be easier for PAF to maintain.

Also, lets remember that PAF does not need the J-35 to do what PLAN/PLAAFG need it to do, so engine may not matter as much

 

[Ibbi32]

The unit price of Rafale purchased by India in 2016 was 260 million US dollars.

The unit price for purchasing Su-57 from Russia is between 40 million and 60 million US dollars.

But India prefers Rafale.

Stupid debate to apply logic to Indian procurement. They spend 300 million per aircraft on rafales to get constantly scammed by dassault, denied source code and other things they so desperately desire. Also su57 does not cost 40 to 60 million. If we were really going off of what india is intrested in then they were offered f-35s by trump but chose rafales. Does that automatically mean rafale > f35?

 

[Michael]

Possible given WS19, being a new engine, needs time to boost production. However, I doubt the restrictions are due to technology concern, as performance lies mostly in the components of the engine, which are hard to copy if you don’t have relevant industrial capacity to fabricate.

The development of the WS-21 engine has indeed progressed somewhat faster than that of the WS-19, though the lead amounts to a difference of only a few years.

In practice, however, the Liyang Factory’s primary production focus for the foreseeable future—spanning many years—will be the WS-19 engine, rather than the WS-21. The WS-21 is currently served by only a single conventional production line, resulting in relatively low production efficiency. In contrast, the Liyang Factory has constructed an entirely new, highly intelligent dual-pulse production line specifically for the WS-19 engine, which boasts exceptionally high production efficiency.

The WS-19 engine is not available for export. This policy is driven by considerations regarding the protection of sensitive technology.

Another consideration for exporting WS21 instead of WS19 is that WS21 is deeply derived from the power plant that currently is used for JF17, thus, may be easier for PAF to maintain.

The core engines of the WS-21 and RD-93 are entirely different; they are not directly interchangeable.

The JF-17 can utilize the WS-21 engine, but doing so requires extensive modifications.

 

[HH-9A]

Yeah, no idea of the final bill here but surely upwards of $10 Billion I imagine right?

Certainly over but will be not much over it.

Saudi buying Thaad alone already spent more than that ( 15 billion USD), and 30 billions for legacy F15, yet failed to achieve any meaningful capacity to counter IAF, as evidenced by successful bombing gulf nations in 2025 by IAF.

This, in any sense, strategically, the fund should be considered a wise investment.

 

[MH.Yang]

Stupid debate to apply logic to Indian procurement. They spend 300 million per aircraft on rafales to get constantly scammed by dassault, denied source code and other things they so desperately desire. Also su57 does not cost 40 to 60 million. If we were really going off of what india is intrested in then they were offered f-35s by trump but chose rafales. Does that automatically mean rafale > f35?

The unit price of Rafale purchased by Greece in 2021 was 178 million US dollars. The unit price of Rafale purchased by the United Arab Emirates in 2021 is 270 million US dollars. The unit price of Rafale purchased by Indonesia in 2022 is 193 million US dollars.

The price for Algeria to purchase Su-57E is 120 million US dollars.

 

[mythbuster]

Also, lets remember that PAF does not need the J-35 to do what PLAN/PLAAFG need it to do, so engine may not matter as much

It matters a lot , one thing I am pretty sure about is that if PLAAF gets WS 19 then Paf will also get it.....it may not be available to other countries ..... tbh , I don't see any other country importing J 35 in the near future.

 

[Yasser76]

It matters a lot , one thing I am pretty sure about is that if PLAAF gets WS 19 then Paf will also get it.....it may not be available to other countries ..... tbh , I don't see any other country importing J 35 in the near future.

Yeah, if J-35 will be used heavily by PLAN and PLAAF there will be very few countries they can trust it with, very few. This is why I think is another reason we may not have gone for V upgrade for F-16.

I do not think we can tolerate any formal US military presence in Pakistan outside of their embassy staff....

 

[HH-9A]

It matters a lot , one thing I am pretty sure about is that if PLAAF gets WS 19 then Paf will also get it.....it may not be available to other countries ..... tbh , I don't see any other country importing J 35 in the near future.

No, Egypt surely is looking into the possibility of J35 induction. Although undeniable Egypt will face much more western pressure than Pakistan in doing so. This is the same reason why gulf countries can’t buy sensitive equipments like fighters directly from China.

 

[HH-9A]

The development of the WS-21 engine has indeed progressed somewhat faster than that of the WS-19, though the lead amounts to a difference of only a few years.

In practice, however, the Liyang Factory’s primary production focus for the foreseeable future—spanning many years—will be the WS-19 engine, rather than the WS-21. The WS-21 is currently served by only a single conventional production line, resulting in relatively low production efficiency. In contrast, the Liyang Factory has constructed an entirely new, highly intelligent dual-pulse production line specifically for the WS-19 engine, which boasts exceptionally high production efficiency.

The WS-19 engine is not available for export. This policy is driven by considerations regarding the protection of sensitive technology.

The core engines of the WS-21 and RD-93 are entirely different; they are not directly interchangeable.

The JF-17 can utilize the WS-21 engine, but doing so requires extensive modifications.

I’m not sure, generally media in Chinese language acknowledges WS21 is a developed version (WS13-> WS13E -> WS21) of WS13 which itself is a licensed RD93 powering JF17.