40 China J-35 Jets For Pak, India's 5th Gen Decade Away: IAF Veterans Weigh In

China will reportedly supply 40 Shenyang J-35 fifth-generation stealth fighter jets to Pakistan. With the J-35 induction, Pakistan joins a small group of countries operating stealth technology. The Indian Air Force (IAF), which currently lacks any stealth fighters in operational service, is still at least a decade away from inducting its indigenous fifth-generation stealth aircraft - the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). Official estimates place the AMCA's induction around 2035.

NDTV spoke to senior IAF veterans for insight into the implications of this development and to assess India's operational preparedness to tackle fifth-generation stealth fighters. 

Group Captain Ajay Ahlawat (Retd.), a former IAF fighter pilot and defence analyst, confirmed the developments with regard to Pakistani pilot training in China.

"Pakistan receiving these jets is not a surprise at all because their team of nominated fighter pilots have been in China for more than six months," he said. "They were training on the type before they were inducted. It was reported that the version that China will give to Pakistan is the FC-31, a slightly toned-down version of the J-35, which is practised across the globe. Nobody gives the full version."

The FC-31 is an export variant of the J-35 and is widely understood to possess reduced capability compared to the frontline aircraft serving the People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force (PLANAF).

"The only surprise element," Group Captain Ahlawat added, "is that they're coming a little ahead of schedule. That's the only surprise."

The Indian Air Force has long maintained air superiority over Pakistan, based on superior training, tactics, and a more diversified inventory. The J-35 deliveries threaten to narrow that advantage.

"It's worrying news," Group Captain Ahlawat said. "Ever since independence, we have fought a very hard battle in the procurement sphere to retain an edge over at least Pakistan, if not China. And any version of J-35 in Pakistani colours is going to raise concerns on our side. It's concerning."

"Unfortunately, we have only two bad choices, the F-35 and the Su-57. The only good choice is the AMCA. The only way we can get past this problem is to give it a national mission-mode push and get it online as soon as we can."

The AMCA, an ambitious twin-engine stealth fighter programme being developed by India's Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) in collaboration with the air force and navy, is still in the early stages of development. Prototype roll-out is targeted for 2028-29, and full induction is not expected before 2035.

Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor (Retd.), who served in key planning roles within the IAF, acknowledged the seriousness of the challenge and offered an interim solution.

"As per news reports, the Pakistanis are likely to get 40 aircraft by December this year," he told NDTV. "Nine to ten years is the official figure by the time we could induct AMCA. There is absolutely no doubt that we need to have our own indigenous platform. But as a nation, can we wait ten more years with adversaries on both sides acquiring more and better equipment?"

Air Marshal Kapoor advocated for an off-the-shelf acquisition of Russian Sukhoi Su-57 jets in a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement, similar to the Rafale deal, to bridge the capability gap.

"The Su-57 has a lot of compatibility with our equipment, weapons, radars and other systems," he explained. "And in many parameters, it is better than the F-35. Both these aircraft flew in Aero India. I spoke to certain people who saw both performing. There's no doubt that F-35 is state-of-the-art. But Su-57 ticks more boxes in many ways."

Air Marshal Kapoor suggested that such a deal should come with the transfer of technology and coding access to allow the integration of India's own DRDO-developed weapon systems.

"With Russian support, we could build on this," he added. "Our aircrew and ground crew, until AMCA is ready, will gain valuable experience. Also, our AMCA design and development teams can draw lessons from operating a fifth-generation fighter in Indian conditions."

Group Captain Ahlawat disagreed with this proposition.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to completely and absolutely disagree with you," he said. "Transfer of Technology makes sense if we didn't have AMCA. It would make sense if we did not have the technology research cells. But we do."

He cited the IAF's prior involvement in the now-aborted FGFA (Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft) programme with Russia, from which India withdrew after evaluating the Su-57's early iterations.

"We were part of the Su-57 programme," Ahlawat noted. "We didn't like what we saw. We spent $350 million and we walked away. There is a lot we know about it, and we didn't like it. Russia doesn't have one full operational regiment of Su-57s. They haven't produced what they need for themselves. We're filling the gap before our own homegrown fighter gets airborne. We should go for something proven. It's a bad choice, but among the two bad choices, F-35 is the less bad choice."