Here’s a Comparison of Pakistani J-10C and Indian Rafale Fighter Jets

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officially inducted the Chinese J-10C fighter jets earlier this month. China delivered the jets 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 Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC). The J-10C fighter jet is a single-engine, tail-less, canard delta wing, 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.

Pakistan has inducted the J-10C fighter jets from its all-weather ally in order to address the military imbalance in the region that resulted from the Indian acquisition of French-made Rafale fighter jets.

The Rafale jet is a twin-engine, canard delta wing, multi-role fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation, a French military aircraft manufacturer.

Defense experts have claimed that the J-10C is more powerful than the Rafale because it can carry more advanced fourth-generation missiles despite being lighter in weight due to the composite materials used in its manufacturing.

Let’s have a look at the detailed comparison of the two jets.

Basic Description

Both J-10C and Rafale have identical attributes. The only difference is in the engine as the former is powered by a single-engine while the latter is fueled by a twin engine.

Attributes	J-10C	Rafale
Weight	Medium-weight	Medium-weight
Engine	Single-engine	Twin-engine
Generation	4.5th generation	4.5th generation
Role	Multi-role	Multi-role

General Characteristics

The J-10C is longer and taller than Rafale. Since it is made from composite materials, it is lighter in weight than the Rafale. The J-10C has a superior internal fuel capacity and is powered by a single engine which produces nearly as much thrust as the twin engines of Rafale.

Features	J-10C	Rafale
Crew	1 (single-seat)	1 (single-seat) or 2 (two-seat)
Length	55 feet 2 inches	50 feet 1 inch
Wingspan	32 feet 2 inches	35 feet 9 inches
Height	18 feet 8 inches	17 feet 6 inches
Wing area	400 sq. ft.	492 sq. ft.
Empty weight	9,750 kg	10,300 kg
Gross weight	14,000 kg	15,000 kg
Max takeoff weight	19,277 kg	24,500 kg
Fuel capacity (internal)	4,950 kg	4,700 kg (single-seat) or 4,400 kg (two-seat)
Powerplant	1 x WS-10B afterburning turbofan engines, 89.17 kN thrust dry, 142 kN with afterburner	2 × Snecma M88-4e turbofans, 50.04 kN thrust each dry, 75 kN with afterburner

Performance

The J-10C has by far a superior speed, combat range, and service ceiling in comparison to the Rafale. The rate of climb, wind loading, and thrust is almost identical.

Characteristics	J-10C	Rafale
Maximum speed	Mach 2	Mach 1.8
Ferry range	2,950 km	3,700 km
Combat range	2,600 km	1,850 km
Service ceiling	56,000 feet	52,000 feet
G limits	+9/-3	+9/-3.6
Rate of climb	59,000 feet/minute	60,000 feet/minute
Wind loading	381 kg/meter2	328 kg/meter2
Thrust/weight	1.10	0.98

Armament

Despite having fewer hardpoints, the J-10C is equipped with a better gun and more air-to-air missiles, air-to-surface missiles, anti-ship missiles, and bombs.

Weapons	J-10C	Rafale
Guns	1× 23 mm GSh-23 twin-barreled autocannon capable of firing 3,600 rounds per minute	1× 30 mm GIAT-30 autocannon capable of firing 2,500 rounds per minute
Hardpoints	11 (6× under-wing, 2× under-intake and 3× under-fuselage) with a capacity of 5600 kg of external fuel and ordnance	14 for Air Force versions and 13 for Navy versions
Air-to-air missiles	PL-8 PL-10 PL-12 PL-15 PL-15E	MBDA MICA EM MBDA MICA IR MBDA Meteor Magic II
Air-to-surface missiles	KD-88 YJ-91	MBDA AM 39 Exocet
Anti-ship missiles	C-601 C-705KD C-802AK CM-400AKG HD-1A	AM39 Exocet
Bombs	LT-2 (laser-guided) LS-6 (glide) GB3 (glide) GB2A (glide) GB3A (glide) FT-1 (satellite-guided) 250 kg and 500 kg unguided bombs	Laser-guided bombs from 225 Kg to 900 kg

Avionics

In this department as well, the J-10C fares better than the Rafale jet.

J-10C	Rafale
Type 1473H pulse-doppler fire control radar	Thales RBE2-AA AESA radar
AESA fire control radar	Thales SPECTRA Electronic Warfare system.
K/JDC01A targeting pod	Thales/SAGEM-OSF Optronique Secteur Frontal infra-red search and track (IRST) system
Type Hongguang-I infra-red search and track pod
CM-802AKG targeting pod for KD-88 and YJ-91
KG600 electronic countermeasure pod
Blue Sky navigation/attack pod

Variants

The J-10 has fewer variants as compared to the Rafale.

J-10C	Rafale
J-10A	Rafale A
J-10AH	Rafale D
J-10S	Rafale B variant F3-R
J-10SH	Rafale C variant F3-R
J-10B	Rafale M variant F3-R
J-10B TVC Demonstrator	Rafale N
J-10C	Rafale R
J-10CE	Rafale DM
	Rafale EM
	Rafale DH
	Rafale EH
	Rafale DQ
	Rafale EQ

Operators

The J-10 is operated by just two countries; China and Pakistan. On the other hand, Rafale is operated by 8 countries.

J-10C	Rafale
China	Croatia
Pakistan	Egypt
	France
	Greece
	India
	Indonesia
	Qatar
	UAE