Pakistani Air Force Claims J-10C, JF-17 Have Edge Over India’s Rafale Jets in BVR Combat
Pakistani Air Force Talks Up J-10C and JF-17 Against Rafale
The rivalry between Pakistan and India just found another battleground—fighter jets. This time, the debate is all about who really owns the skies. A senior Pakistani Air Force officer, Air Commodore Khalid Farooq, didn’t mince words when comparing Pakistan’s Chinese-made J-10C and JF-17 jets to India’s French-built Rafale fighters. He insists Pakistan’s machines have the upper hand where it counts: long-range, radar-guided combat, commonly called beyond-visual-range (BVR) engagements.
So, what’s fueling this swagger? According to Farooq, the J-10C brings together several heavy-hitting features. It can fly at a blistering Mach 2.2—faster than India’s Rafale, which tops out at Mach 1.8. That kind of speed means it can get in, lock on, and shoot sooner. This is what air power specialists call ‘first-look, first-shot’—the plane that sees and shoots first usually wins.
The J-10C is loaded with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, boasting an impressive 1,200 tiny transmit-receive (T/R) modules. In layman’s terms, this means the jet can spot and track targets with serious precision from a long way off. Mate that with the PL-15E missile, and Pakistan claims its jets can hit targets as far as 145 kilometers away without ever needing to dogfight.
Don’t count out the homegrown JF-17 Thunder, though. The newest Block III model comes with its own AESA radar—China’s KLJ-7A—and is armed with the same PL-15 missile tech. Pakistan’s not shy about its belief that both fighter types push its air force into the top tier when it comes to hunting enemy planes from a distance.
The Rafale: Underdog or Overlooked Ace?
On the other side, Indian military planners aren’t losing sleep just yet. The Rafale is more than just a pretty face—it’s battle-proven in hot zones like Mali and Syria. Indian jets carry the RBE2 AESA radar (with 838 modules, not quite matching the J-10C's count) and the Meteor missile, which can reach even farther at over 150 kilometers. The missile’s range edges ahead, at least on paper.
But there’s more than numbers in a dogfight. Indian Rafales come with advanced electronic warfare suites, which can jam radars and protect the jet from enemy missiles. They also have MICA-IR missiles for close-range scraps, giving them a backup plan if things get personal. Defense analysts point out that cutting-edge electronic warfare has saved pilots and won battles more than once, making raw speed and radar only part of the story.
The debates are more than just talk. Both sides study each other’s gear, train for sneaky tricks, and constantly look for an edge. The real question hangs in the air: do raw specs on paper match up with what actually happens in the sky? Or does experience, adaptability, and pilot skill tip the scale when everything’s on the line?
The clash of opinions isn’t just about jets and missiles—it’s a window into a high-stakes cat-and-mouse game between two rivals, constantly working to outsmart and outfly each other as new tech changes what’s possible in modern air combat.