The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) may make its newest acquisition from China, the Shenyang J-31 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter, in the coming years. Interest in the aircraft, which is still in the testing phase, was confirmed on Tuesday (02) by the PAF Chief of Staff, General Syed Assim Munir, and later by the military organization itself.
During an operationalization ceremony at a PAF base, Munir presented details of the introduction into service of the new Chengdu J-10 fighters, also from China, C-130H freighters, Airbus A319 and Boeing 737 jets, drones and roving munitions and other aircraft models and armaments.
Still in his speech, the general said that the foundations for the acquisition of the J-31 fifth-generation fighter have already been laid. The aircraft is expected to be added to the PAF fleet in the “near future”, Munir said. The purchase of the planes would mark a significant advance in the capabilities of the Pakistani Air Force, which has been reinforced to face India. The two countries have had a territorial dispute for many years and have come to conflict.
The J-31, also called the FC-31, is the second fifth-generation jet developed by China after the Chengdu J-20 Vigorous Dragon. Similar to what happens in the United States with the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II, the J-20 was banned from export, while the J-31 is offered to the world market.
The aircraft made its first flight in October 2012 and was revealed to the public in 2014 at the Zhuhai Air Show. In its first version it was quite clear that its design was very inspired by the F-22 and F-35, being almost a mixture of the two. Later, the aircraft appeared with a revised design, without any similarities to the American jets.
Although it received RD-93 engines of Russian origin, today it is equipped with two Chinese WS-13s, each generating 19.6 thousand pounds of thrust in after-burning mode. It has the capacity to receive up to 8 tons of payload including bombs and missiles.
In October 2021 flew the J-35, a naval version of the J-31, to be employed aboard the new Chinese aircraft carrier, the Fujian.
