Here’s a Comparison of J-10C and JF-17 Thunder Fighter Jets

The A-5C, J-7, Mirage III, and Mirage V jets effectively guarded the aerial boundaries of Pakistan for decades before they were replaced with JF-17 fighters that were inducted by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in February 2010.

As its name suggests, the Joint Fighter-17 or JF-17 aircraft has been jointly developed by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China.

The JF-17 jet can perform multiple roles including interception, ground attack, anti-ship, and aerial reconnaissance. In addition to this, it can deploy a number of weapons including air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, and 23 mm twin-barrel autocannon.

The JF-17 aircraft dominated the headlines across the globe in February 2019 when tensions across the Pakistan-India border escalated to a point where the world feared that a full-blown conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors was inevitable.

Three years later, PAF inducted J-10C fighter jets after acquiring them from China in just eight months rather than the years that defense manufacturers usually take to deliver fighter jets such as the J-10C.

The J-10C fighter aircraft has been developed by the CAC. It was unveiled in Pakistan in an official ceremony that was attended by Prime Minister, Imran Khan, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu, Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi, Defense Minister, Pervaiz Khattak, senior officials of the three forces, and members of the federal cabinet.

The J-10C fighter jet is a multi-role combat aircraft capable of all-weather operations. It is primarily designed for air-to-air combat, but it can also perform strike missions.

With the 23rd March parade just days away, the country is set to demonstrate its military might. Since JF-17 and J-10C fighter jets will also be seen performing aerial maneuvers, let’s look at the comparison of both aircraft:

Basic Description

Attributes	JF-17	J-10C
Weight	Light-weight	Medium-weight
Engine	Single-engine	Single-engine
Generation	4th generation	4.5th generation
Role	Multi-role	Multi-role

General Characteristics

Features	JF-17	J-10C
Crew	1 (single-seat JF-17A) or 2 (dual-seat JF-17B)	1 (single-seat)
Length	47 feet	55 feet 2 inches
Wingspan	31 feet	32 feet 2 inches
Height	15 feet	18 feet 8 inches
Wing area	263 sq. ft.	400 sq. ft.
Empty weight	7,965 kg	9,750 kg
Max takeoff weight	13,500 kg	19,277 kg
Fuel capacity	5,830 kg	7,380 kg
Powerplant	1 x Klimov RD-93 afterburning turbofan with DEEC, 49.4 kN thrust  dry, 84.4 kN with afterburner	1 x WS-10B afterburning turbofan engines, 89.17 kN thrust dry, 142 kN with afterburner

Performance

Characteristics	JF-17	J-10C
Maximum speed	Mach 1.6	Mach 1.8
Stall speed	150 km/h	200 km/h
Combat range	1,450 km	2,600 km
Ferry range	3,481 km	2,950 km
Service ceiling	55,510 feet	56,000 feet
G limits	+8/-3 (limited by flight control system)	+9/-3
Rate of climb	59,000 ft./min.	59,000 ft./min.
Thrust/weight	1.07	1.10

Armament

Type	JF-17	J-10C
Guns	1 × 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel cannon or 1 × 30 mm GSh-30-2 twin-barrel cannon	1× Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23
Hardpoints	8 (2 × wingtip, 4 × under-wing, 1 × under-fuselage, 1 × under-chin) with capacity for dual ejector racks on each under-wing hardpoint	11 (6× under-wing, 2× under-intake and 3× under-fuselage) with a capacity of 5600 kg of external fuel and ordnance
Rockets	–	90 mm unguided rocket pods
Air-to-air missiles	PL-5DE PL-9C PL-10E R-Darter PL-12 PL-15E	PL-8 PL-10 PL-12 PL-15
Air-to-surface missles	CM-102 MAR-1 LD-10 Ra’ad-II HD-1A	KD-88 YJ-91
Anti-ship missiles	C-601 C-705KD C-802AK CM-400AKG HD-1A	–
Unguided bombs	250 kg Pre-fragmented bomb Mk-82 Mk-83 Mk-84 HAFR-1/HAFR-2 RPB-1	250 kg and 500 kg Pre-fragmented bomb
Guided bombs	GBU-10 GBU-12 GBU-16 LT-2 H-2 SOW H-4 SOW GB-6 NORINCO GB-250A NORINCO GB-500 LS-6 GIDS Takbir GIDS Range Extension Kit	LT-2 LS-6 GB3 GB2A GB3A FT-1

Avionics

JF-17	J-10C
KLJ-7-A Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Fire-Control Radar	Type 1473H Pulse-Doppler Fire Control Radar
ALR-67 Rader Warning Receiver (RWR)	K/JDC01A Targeting Pod
S740 Missile Approach Warning System (MAWS)	Type Hongguang-I Infra-Red Search and Track Pod
JZ/YD 125 IFF System	CM-802AKG Targeting Pod for KD-88 and YJ-91
MIT-STD-1553 Databus	KG600 Electronic Countermeasure Pod
Link-17 Tactical Data Link	Blue Sky Navigation/Attack Pod

Variants

JF-17	J-10C
JF-17A Block 1	J-10A
JF-17A Block 2	J-10AH
JF-17B Block 2	J-10S
JF-17 Block 3	J-10SH
	J-10B
	J-10B TVC Demonstrator
	J-10C
	J-10CE

Operators

JF-17	J-10C
China	China
Pakistan	Pakistan
Myanmar
Nigeria

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Note that Pakistan is the first country that has acquired the J10-C from China and most details of the export variant of the Chinese fighter jet are yet to be revealed officially.