By Fu Qianshao and Zhang Xinmin
The News and Publicity Office of China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) released the top ten news in science, technology and industry for national defense in 2025, including the news that in May 2025, China's export-oriented J-10CE fighter jet made its first real combat achievement by shooting down multiple fighter jets in air combat without any losses.
What are the strengths of the J-10CE fighter jet? What does it mean to make a real combat achievement abroad?
The J-10CE fighter jet is an all-weather, single-engine, single-seat, and multi-role fighter jet independently developed by China. Since its initial model J-10 successfully made its maiden flight in 1998, the fighter has experienced a range of modifications. From J-10 to J-10C, the appearance, on-board weapons, radar systems, and other components have all undergone upgrades to varying degrees.
As the first variant of the J-10 series, the J-10B featured several modifications. The first improvement is the nose section's change from a conical shape to an elliptical cross-section; the second is the application of metal film coating to the cockpit canopy; and the third is the additional infrared search and track system installed. Furthermore, the air inlet has changed from the previous binary adjustable air inlet to a clamshell air inlet.
The picture shows a J-10CE fighter jet in export-oriented version.
In terms of weapon systems, the earlier J-10 carries the PL-12s as its primary medium-range air-to-air missiles, and PL-5Es as its short-range dogfight missiles. The J-10C is equipped with the PL-15 medium- and long-range air-to-air missiles and the PL-10 short-range dogfight missiles, both with top-notch performance among current air combat weapons all around the world. The maximum range of the PL-15E can exceed 200 kilometers, while the PL-10, with a large firing angle and extremely excellent maneuverability, allows little chance for any targets locked onto it to escape. Combined with the active phased array radar equipped on the J-10C, significant improvements and upgrades have been made for the avionics systems, aerodynamic shapes, power systems, and weapon systems.
As the export-oriented version specifically designed for the international military trade market, the J-10CE has a greater weapon payload capacity as its critical "adaptation".
In addition to its advanced combat capabilities in medium- and low-altitude dogfights, the J-10CE fighter jet boasts supersonic flight, short-range takeoff and landing, and strong systematic combat capabilities. It is capable of striking multiple targets from beyond visual range and can deliver multi-mode precision attacks on ground targets under the complex electromagnetic environment. The most significant difference between the variant and its J-10C predecessors is the major breakthrough in the design of the weapon payload. Compared to the previous hard points on the fuselage or under the wings, which could only carry a single weapon each, it can carry multiple weapons at one point by attaching double or even triple racks, thus improving combat effectiveness.
The J-10CE has become preferred in the international military trade market due to not only its superior performance but also the "one-stop" combat capability solution offered by China.
Accompanying the export of the J-10CE, China will provide a certain degree of training on piloting skills and air combat tactics for relevant pilots to develop them as seeds who will serve as J-10CE instructors to teach other pilots in their respective countries. The export of the supporting PL-15E and PL-10E weapon systems can fully meet their demands. The J-10CE is not only an excellent platform in itself, but also can operate in coordination with the systematic equipment provided by China to give full play to its performance.
After this air battle, many countries conducted extensive research and made in-depth analyses and evaluations of the technical and tactical strengths and weaknesses of both sides, which is no less than an advertisement for China's weapons and equipment.
