Pakistan Poised to Receive China’s J-35E Stealth Fighters by 2026–27

Defence affairs : defence security asia - Def-Geopolitics

Islamabad’s pursuit of China’s export-grade J-35E fifth-generation stealth fighter marks a decisive doctrinal shift toward low-observable, network-centric airpower aimed at countering India’s Rafale fleet and layered air-defence architecture.

The prospect that Pakistan could receive between four and twelve J-35E fifth-generation stealth fighters from China between early 2026 and early 2027 represents a potentially decisive inflection point in South Asia’s aerial balance, as Islamabad accelerates its pursuit of survivable, low-observable strike capabilities to offset India’s Rafale fleet and layered air-defence architecture.

This trajectory is underscored by Pakistan Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu’s assertion that “the need for next-generation platforms to maintain deterrence” has become unavoidable, a statement that encapsulates Islamabad’s assessment that fourth-generation upgrades alone are no longer sufficient in an increasingly sensor-dense battlespace.

While Defence Minister Khawaja Asif previously characterised early reporting as “media chatter” and stated that “no formal procurement agreement exists,” the accumulation of preparatory indicators, training pipelines and infrastructure upgrades suggests that operational planning has advanced well beyond speculative discussion.

The Shehbaz Sharif administration’s public acknowledgment that Pakistan had been offered “40 fifth-generation Shenyang J-35 stealth aircraft, Shaanxi KJ-500 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C), and HQ-19 air defense systems from China” further signals a coherent, layered airpower concept rather than a standalone fighter acquisition.

Unnamed Pakistani officials have gone further, claiming deliveries would begin “within months,” a claim reinforced by the air chief’s January 2025 confirmation of an impending fifth-generation induction that would place Pakistan among a very small group of stealth-capable air forces outside the United States and its closest allies.

For Beijing, the prospective transfer represents a strategic opportunity to validate an export-configured fifth-generation platform in a high-threat operational environment, while for Islamabad it offers a pathway to restore deterrence credibility without dependence on Western political approval mechanisms.

The reported deal value of approximately USD 5–6 billion (around RM 23.5–28.2 billion) underscores both the scale of ambition and the financial gravity of the programme, particularly for a country navigating persistent fiscal stress and IMF-linked economic constraints.

Taken together, these converging signals suggest that the J-35E programme is no longer a notional aspiration but a maturing capability pathway that could reshape airpower calculus across the Indo-Pakistani theatre and beyond.