Bangladesh has confirmed plans to buy Chinese J-10 fighter jets, with a government adviser saying that the aircraft’s reported performance against Indian Rafale jets during the India-Pakistan conflict influenced the decision.
Zahed Ur Rahman, an adviser to Prime Minister (PM) of Bangladesh Tarique Rahman, said that the government had negotiated with the purchase of J-10 fighters with China and prepared a draft agreement. He confirmed that Bangladesh could complete the purchase this year if government allocated enough funds, otherwise the deal would be pushed to next year.
The Press Information Department of Bangladesh also reported that a draft proposal for the purchase of Chinese J-10CE fighters had been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and the Armed Forces Division for final approval.
“When India and Pakistan were at war, India’s Dassault Rafale was downed, and it was done by the Chinese J-10. This information is now established,” Rahman said, according to the reports.
Pakistan had shot down seven Indian aircraft, including three Rafales. India confirmed that it had lost multiple aircraft but did not disclose the number or types of aircraft lost, and rejected Pakistan’s claim that seven aircraft had been downed.
China attributed the Indian aircraft losses to the quality of the J-10s used by Pakistan.
The J-10 is a Chinese single-engine, multirole fighter, while the J-10C is a 4.5-generation variant of the aircraft. The J-10CE is the export version of the J-10C and is the model used by Pakistan during its conflict with India last year.
Rahman said that the Chinese fighter was also cheaper than European aircraft such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and France’s Rafale. China has promoted the J-10 as a lower-cost alternative to the Rafale, Typhoon and Sweden’s Saab Gripen while offering comparable capabilities.
