PAF J-35AE - News, Updates and Discussions

[safriz]

He does say PAF will induct "next gen platform" along with "additional J-10C and much upgraded JF-17," in this clip. The only next gen platform available at this stage is J-35.

But he also says that it depends on when the need arises , and that they are looking at multiple options for that.
So j 35 isn't even decided yet as the next generation.

 

[Bilal]

Sorry - but "Indigenous collaborations" will be as useful and successful as the Tejas programme.

Thankfully PAF has real options like J-35AE and Kaan ...

Bro, I think our programs have been far more successful than we give them credit for. And our organizations have been wise enough to cancel, reorient when needed (Azm).

Let’s not be critical for the sake of it.

 

[Ali_Baba]

PAF are adamant that they want a homegrown fighter they can play about with

This is probably with a view to induct their own homegrown weaponry.
Give them some independence
And if shit hits the fan give them a base to keep going if obtaining planes becomes difficult for whatever reason

The only question is what will PFX be, will it be just continued development of the platform into Block 4

Continued development with some changes like a new powerful engine, or RAM coating, avionics etc

Or a significant change to the platform that is 4.5+

And the question would be timeline, who will help us and what will be the cost


But whatever it is I think PAF is determined that we will go down this route

I will be the party pooper on this one(Sorry!)

But - what PAF "want" and what Pakistan can deliver are two entirely different stories. Lets not take seriously any nonsense about stealth versions of JF17 (ergo PFX) being done in Pakistan. The very concept is a joke. Pakistan has not designed, developed, delivered, certified and manufactured a single home grown plane of any type ever, so the idea that Pakistan can do a stealth version of the JF17 is a joke. I am not even going to sugar coat it.

I am quite optimistic and gun-ho about Pakistan developing homegrown solutions, but even i will draw a line at this joke of a stealthy JF17-PFX...

Sorry - but "Indigenous collaborations" will be as useful and successful as the Tejas programme.

Thankfully PAF has real options like J-35AE and Kaan for stealth ...

 

[hussain0216]

I will be the party pooper on this one(Sorry!)

But - what PAF "want" and what Pakistan can deliver are two entirely different stories. Lets not take seriously any nonsense about stealth versions of JF17 (ergo PFX) being done in Pakistan. The very concept is a joke. Pakistan has not designed, developed, delivered, certified and manufactured a single home grown plane of any type ever, so the idea that Pakistan can do a stealth version of the JF17 is a joke. I am not even going to sugar coat it.

I am quite optimistic and gun-ho about Pakistan developing homegrown solutions, but even i will draw a line at this joke of a stealthy JF17-PFX...

Sorry - but "Indigenous collaborations" will be as useful and successful as the Tejas programme.

Thankfully PAF has real options like J-35AE and Kaan for stealth ...

Maybe it's just a issue of money

We clearly can't do this on our own

But we can provide a big team of people, that can link up with either China or Turkey to get this project done

The Chinese or Turks will probably just say, buy the KAAN or J35 in bigger numbers


But if we were adamant and this is the route we wanted to go, if the money was made available I'm sure we could get Turkey or China to agree to support this project so we could get it done

 

[clutch]

No money... No j-35 Honey

It's simple.

 

[Ali_Baba]

Maybe it's just a issue of money

We clearly can't do this on our own

But we can provide a big team of people, that can link up with either China or Turkey to get this project done

The Chinese or Turks will probably just say, buy the KAAN or J35 in bigger numbers


But if we were adamant and this is the route we wanted to go, if the money was made available I'm sure we could get Turkey or China to agree to support this project so we could get it done

It has nothing to do with money, but a lack of trained people with decades of experience at all the levels required across all the disciplines, that is lacking in Pakistan. Fast jet design capabilities are a multi-decade project with lots of foundation building steps that need to be taken, that Pakistan has not done at all.

 

[SABRE]

But he also says that it depends on when the need arises , and that they are looking at multiple options for that.
So j 35 isn't even decided yet as the next generation.

Few senior officials openly say J-35 is coming. I believe CAS is one of them, although nowadays I question my memories. Then some shy away from giving a straightforward answer. Despite strong indications of J-35's induction, this vague language persists. Makes me wonder. Perhaps, some formalities have yet to be fulfilled, especially funding aspects.

 

[AeronautIR]

He was specific about J10 but not about 5th generation fighter....any thoughts about it ?

Strategic ambiguity is good to surprise IAF in next conflict. What I gathered from it is that we will get 2 sqn of J-35 and use that knowledge for indigenous stealth fighter. We can produce it in numbers to replace older 4.5 gen by 2040.

 

[AeronautIR]

So there's going to be a Block 4 Thunder ?
But no J 35 as no requirements at the moment.

He just said upgraded JF-17. That can be related to block 2 upgrade or order of more block 3 for PAF. I am not sure if there will be a block 4. About J-35, I will stick to my previous claim of 2026-27 timeline. To my knowledge, current PAF plan is of 36 J-35 and 40 J-10C. DG ISPR said something about 14 August too. So let's see if we can get some more clarity about acquisition plans by end 2026.

 

[mythbuster]

Strategic ambiguity is good to surprise IAF in next conflict. What I gathered from it is that we will get 2 sqn of J-35 and use that knowledge for indigenous stealth fighter. We can produce it in numbers to replace older 4.5 gen by 2040.

Shall we expect Chinese help in developing certain aspects of 5th generation technology or we will be at our own.

 

[rafale]

its pretty clear PAF has observers on the J-35 prog, who are reporting back, then a decision will be made, im sure its the same with Kaan etc.

There is hesitancy, as expected, just look at the F-35 and its teething issues. The PAF will not want to deal with them.

There will be plenty of teething issues, like with any large and complicated project.

But rest assured, and you may pin/bookmark my post, that Chinese will figure out and Iron out the teething issues at blazing fast speed compared to what is now a shadow of once great American military Inc.

F-35 was a poorly managed project from the start. Gone are the days where companies and contractors overdelivered (e.g. F-15s/F-16s) compared to almost every major project now running behind schedule and over budget. Just look at the state of their Navy procurement. The corporate American military Inc has just dumbed themselves down.

Chinese on the other hand depend on speed of delivery.

 

[RedRock]

He was specific about J10 but not about 5th generation fighter....any thoughts about it ?

Even when he was asked about the induction of j35 from some female reporter he did not explicitly say yes. He touched upon the Jf17 and newer versions of it and talked about homegrown equipment. And areas where they lack and need to improve upon. So i have a feeling our 5 gen fighter will be something like what we did with our tanks. We bought the chinese one but also have a pakistani version of it. So are 5th gen aircraft will also follow the same path. It will be modified j35 and kaan (where pakistan will build a 5th gen fighter using indeginous equipment, turkish equipment and chinese). Or we may buy j35 and then build a version that is 100% pakistani with inputs from turkey

 

[StormBreaker]

Financing. Due to this issue our second squad of J10Cs hasn't been in green flag yet.

I miss him… Forums got boring without him.

 

[Bilal]

He just said upgraded JF-17. That can be related to block 2 upgrade or order of more block 3 for PAF. I am not sure if there will be a block 4.

I think it’s 3P or PFX-Alpha he was talking about because he mentioned it to be the stepping stone to the NGF.

 

[RealNapster]

That’s certain.

The real question is, Why?

Is it the “Pakistani are intelligent people - Zia ul Haq”

Or

Has it got to do with financing?

Or

Has it got to do with J-35 as a platform (least likely)

I hope the PAF realise that J-35 are not needed this soon. And if they buy them now, not only will it drain all the budget but operating them will be so expensive for PAF that budget for new aircraft's purchases will become a constant issue.

Also, It was a good decision to not buy J-10 in 2010-15. It paid off. The platform got matured and then we bought it on discounted rates. I think we need to wait 2-3 years for J-35 as well and focus on more J-10C. Because not only we dont have any need for J-35 till end of 2027, but we also need to focus more on J-10C that is proven asset and needed in numbers.

India is not going to field any real 5G fighter jet by atleast end of 2028.