The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) disclosed its near-term procurement priorities during the Joint Services Press Conference on 7 May, confirming plans for additional J-10CE fighters, new and upgraded JF-17 variants, long-range precision strike weapons, and deeper integration of ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance) with air defence.
Air Vice Marshal Tariq Mahmood Ghazi, the PAF spokesperson, also confirmed an “initial collaborative mechanism” for the Shenyang J-35AE fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA), while stating that more than 160 original programs are under development across the National Aerospace Science and Technology Park (NASTP) and its associated entities.
The disclosures, delivered by AVM Ghazi alongside statements from the Pakistan Navy and the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR), are the most specific public remarks to date on the shape of the PAF’s post-May 2025 modernization push.
In fact, the disclosures align closely with the trajectory Quwa has tracked over the past year – namely, that 4+/4.5-generation platform procurement would take precedence over a next-generation fighter aircraft (NGFA), and with the J-35AE’s scope closer to the early 2030s as the oldest F-16A/B Block-15s approach the end of their operational lives.
Additional J-10CEs and Upgraded JF-17s
AVM Ghazi stated that the air force is pursuing “additional J-10C aircraft and highly upgraded JF-17 platforms” as part of its near-term fighter fleet plans. Though no specific quantities were disclosed, the framing placed these acquisitions ahead of the J-35AE in sequencing.
In a broader sense, the sequencing also reflects the reality that a next-gen fighter, however capable, cannot generate the quantitative mass the PAF requires unless it is backed by a much larger fleet of simpler aircraft.
In a broader sense, the sequencing also aligns with this author’s earlier assessment that the PAF would adopt the concept that, for effective stealth-led fighter operations, the fleet would need ‘quantitative mass’ through many more 4+ or 4.5-generation fighters. Furthermore, the PAF would need to induct these 4+/4.5-generation fighters ahead of the stealth fighter, thereby leaving platforms like the J-35AE (or others) as a capstone, adding to a deeper, pre-existing capacity for strike missions.
