PAF J-35AE - News, Updates and Discussions

AECC does not allow WS-19 engine to be exported. the WS-21 engine is the engine they developed specifically for the foreign trade version of the FC-31/J-35.
@Michael see here you said your self that WS-21 engine is for foreign partner? and above you said that this inducted PLAAF J35 has WS-21 engine not WS-19?
 
Personally I believe we will upgrade or like to upgrade our block 52s to V standard only. Remaining F16s will remain as it is till they get retired in few years time. We might atleast buy one more squad of J10Cs/ or built JF17 block 3 and that's it. After that it will be J35s only.

Now if, a big if, India from no where gives an order of 5th generation plane to Russia or US, let's say within next 7-8 months, than we will definitely fast track J35 purchase. Might than give up the idea of having additional J10C / block 3 squad which I earlier mentioned and save the money for J35s. This fast track deal with China than will be at Govt to Govt level and even than we won't be getting J35s before 2027-28.
 
Block 52s are as good as block 70s without AESA radar. So block 52s upgradation to 70 will not cost much as compared to previous block s upgrade to V standard.
No, block 52s are not near the block 70 capability, block 70 is way way more advanced than block 52 in terms of avionics/ radars/ ECM/EW/ECCM etc etc
 
Personally I believe we will upgrade or like to upgrade our block 52s to V standard only. Remaining F16s will remain as it is till they get retired in few years time. We might atleast buy one more squad of J10Cs/ or built JF17 block 3 and that's it. After that it will be J35s only.

Now if, a big if, India from no where gives an order of 5th generation plane to Russia or US, let's say within next 7-8 months, than we will definitely fast track J35 purchase. Might than give up the ideal of having additional J10C / block 3 squad which I earlier mentioned and save the money for J35s. This fast track deal with China than will be at Govt to Govt level and even than we won't be getting J35s before 2027-28.
Why have we stopped further procurement of Block 3s? Given the decades long hype of Block 3 and now we stop at 26 units?
 
Okay guys, this is going to be my last post regarding the research on who actually said what and when. I have found the original video from a place that may have been overlooked by the PAF.

@Deino @Quwa and anyone else who wants to see the original video from 2 January 2024, I have reuploaded this on YouTube for. It has a lot more details then subsequent promotional video released on 16 January 2024.

My opinion is still the same though, that the initial promotional video misquoted the Air Chief and as a result it was pulled and a new promotional video was released couple of weeks later.

The J-31 claim became a breaking news as a direct result of the promotional video and not what actually took place on the day of the event. I am happy to be corrected otherwise.

Date
Official
Comment
Event
Notes
02/01/2024PAF Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber SidhuNo mention of the J-31 in the press release.

ISPR Press Release No PR-2/2024-ISPR

Official footage with no sound of the speeches.
Induction and Operationalisation Ceremony at PAF Airbase.ISPR's original press release is still available.
02/01/2024Pakistan Air ForcePakistan Air Force releases a promotional video which asserts that the Air Chief made the following announcement:

"The foundation for acquiring the J-31 stealth fighter aircraft has already been laid, which is all set to become part of the fleet in the near future."

Original Promotional Video
The video was removed between 3 January 2024 and 16 January 2024.There's no evidence that the Air Chief said anything about J-31 during his speech.

The promotional video is not available on the DGPR (Air Force)'s X account or their YouTube channel.
02/01/2024Unofficial: BOL News channelNews report claims Air Chief has announced the acquisition of J-31s.BOL News ReportThe report seems to be based on the promotional video rather than actual reporting from the event.
16 January 2024DGPR (Air Force)DGPR (Air Force) tweets:

PAF CHECKMATES PAKISTAN'S ENEMIES

... “A key milestone in this strategic transformation has been the acquisition of Fifth Generation Stealth fighter jets, the foundation of whose induction into the PAF has already been laid which will ensure an impregnable defence of the country. ...”

Attached to the tweet is a promotional video that has a caption attributing to the Air Chief:

Pakistan Air Force - Journey to modernisation

“A key milestone in this strategic transformation has been the acquisition of fifth generation stealth fighter jets, the foundations of whose induction into the PAF has already been laid.”
Tweet on X

PAF Promotional Video
Both the tweet and the promotional video do not mention J-31.
06 June 2025PM Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif"Under the presidency of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif {@CMShehbaz}, Pakistan has achieved several great diplomatic achievements, including the offer of 40 fifth-generation J-35 stealth aircraft, KJ-500 AWACS, HQ-19 defense systems from China."Tweet on XThis tweet was later removed a few days later.
26/06/2025Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif“I think it is only in the media. It is good for sale, Chinese defence sales, you know,” said Khawaja Asif in response to a question about the reported delivery of the J-35A jets in 2026.Interview with Arab NewsSome PR stunt going on according to the Defence Minister.

Prime Minister's tweet which was later removed.

View attachment 133512

@Quwa , thank you.
IMO...I don't think it was a misquote, otherwise that same video would've had multiple misquotes. It'd be very odd for the very one specific detail about the J-31 would be misquoted.

Moreover, these PR videos are basically done at the direction of AHQ and the CAS. They would've been cleared by him. And that video was around for a while before it got scrubbed.

That said, I think the PAF inadvertently gave the impression that their next acquisition would be the J-31/J-35, which wasn't likely the case. Rather, the J-35 will come eventually, but until then, its priorities would likely center on more J-10CEs and JF-17s/PFXs.
 
Why have we stopped further procurement of Block 3s? Given the decades long hype of Block 3 and now we stop at 26 units?
May be we want to save some money for 5th generation plane. We even bought J10s in limited numbers. Also quality matters than quantity and in the last 10 years induction of UAV warfare has evolved as must need for every decent airforce. So with force multipliers in the form of AWACS, specialized jamming planes and other hi tech net centric units around, we don't need more planes to do the job. See PAF 44 planes were enough to give bloody nose to IAF 72 jets.
 
May be we want to save some money for 5th generation plane. We even bought J10s in limited numbers. Also quality matters than quantity and in the last 10 years induction of UAV warfare has evolved as must need for every decent airforce. So with force multipliers in the form of AWACS, specialized jamming planes and other hi tech net centric units around, we don't need more planes to do the job. See PAF 44 planes were enough to give bloody nose to IAF 72 jets.
UAV/UCAVs have revolutionized the warfare arena completely. Look at how the Russia-Ukraine, Iran-Israel and Pak-India conflicts had a major role of UAVs.

Kamekazi stealth strike drones, UAV awacs, and swarms are the way to go.
 
I understand some advantages of getting F16V upgrade, but I wonder the disadvantage regarding cost and reliability(sanctions) make it better to aquire more J10cs
 
Then we have the single source problem here. I guess you are aware of this dilemma in journalism and research :)
I suggest you follow the main thread of J-35. There you will find the answers you want to know.
I don't know English, and all my speeches in PDF need translation software. So, repeating the same content is very troublesome for me.
 
UAV/UCAVs have revolutionized the warfare arena completely. Look at how the Russia-Ukraine, Iran-Israel and Pak-India conflicts had a major role of UAVs.

Kamekazi stealth strike drones, UAV awacs, and swarms are the way to go.
It's still too premature to put all your eggs in this basket. I feel UAVs are going to play a bigger role going forward but manned warfare isn't going anywhere. Main key will be loyal wingman drones to fly with manned platforms, and some may have specialised payloads like electronic warfare or reconnaissance.

"Kamekazi stealth strike drones" to be honest just sounds like a loitering cruise missile optimised for stealth.

Like these.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.


1000021104.jpg
 
I suggest you follow the main thread of J-35. There you will find the answers you want to know.
I don't know English, and all my speeches in PDF need translation software. So, repeating the same content is very troublesome for me.
It is OK. I read somewhere that WS-19 is intended engine for J-35 while WS-21 is interim engine similar as we have WS-10C on J-20 while WS-15 Emei is going through testing. But if J-35As are not coming to PAF then it's irrelevant if it's WS-21 or WS-19.
 
Please do not buy anymore F16s! As a matter of fact, sell the ones Pakistan currently has.

Even Canada now believes that the USA is no longer a reliable, trustworthy ally. Carney is a disappointment but I didn't expect him to fold like this so easy. At least Trudeau was willing to step into a boxing ring and stand up for himself when he got called out.

Trump is not a single variable, out lier phenomenon. He represents a thought pattern that has now taken a permanent hold in the American politics.

The USA may promise or say one thing, but America is unpredictable more than ever before.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Pakistan Defence Latest

Country Watch Latest

Back
Top