Pakistan's Interest in Chinese FC-31: Exploring Joint Production to Modernize Fighter Fleet, Replacing Aging F-16s

Defense News ,Pakistan :-  The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) wants to upgrade its planes, and they're looking at getting help from China.

They're really interested in a new fighter jet called the FC-31. They even made a video about it!

More Than Just Buying: They Want to Make Jets Together

Pakistan isn't just thinking about buying these jets. They're talking about making them in Pakistan, with China's help. They might use a place called the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), where they already make another type of fighter jet called the JF-17.

Getting Rid of the Old F-16s

Pakistan has about 60 old F-16 jets from the USA. They want to replace them with the FC-31. They haven't said exactly how many FC-31s they'll get, but people think it might be around 100.

Keeping Up with India's New Jets

The PAF started thinking more about new planes when Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu took charge. They recently got 25 J-10CE jets from China to keep up with India, who got 36 new Rafale jets.

Some people are saying there might be some problems with how they bought these planes, though.

Big Plans: Only New Jets by 2050

The PAF has big dreams for the future. They want to have only the newest type of jets by 2050. But what about the JF-17 jets they already have? People are curious about that.

Saying Goodbye to Old Planes

The PAF is planning to say goodbye to over 100 old Mirage-III/V jets. These planes have been around for more than 50 years! They're also going to retire some Chinese F-7P jets, which are like old MiG-21 planes.

Lots of Changes Coming Up

In the next ten years, the PAF wants to get rid of or replace about 200 planes. They'll use the new J-10CE and FC-31 jets more.

Still Some Questions

Even though Pakistan is excited about getting new planes, there are still things people are wondering about. They want to know more about how they'll make the FC-31 with China. And there are some concerns about how they got the J-10CE jets, too.