DHAKA (The Thursday Times) — Bangladesh has confirmed a draft agreement to purchase Chinese J-10CE fighter jets, becoming the second country after Pakistan to move toward operating the aircraft, and citing Pakistan’s own combat performance against India as the reason.
Zahed Ur Rahman, the Bangladeshi prime minister’s adviser for information and broadcasting, said a draft proposal to buy the jets had been submitted to the Ministry of Finance and the Armed Forces Division for final approval, according to Bangladesh’s Press Information Department. Rahman said Dhaka had “paid attention” to the May 2025 conflict between Pakistan and India, in which Pakistan’s air force reportedly used J-10C fighters equipped with AESA radars and PL-15 long-range missiles to down Indian Rafale jets, an outcome Bangladeshi officials are now citing directly as the basis for their own procurement decision.
The draft deal covers 20 aircraft in the export configuration, with an overall program cost, including training, technical support, and infrastructure, estimated at roughly $2.2 to $2.3 billion, alongside a related package of Chinese attack helicopters, VIP transport helicopters, and drone systems. No final contract has been signed. If completed, Bangladesh would become only the second confirmed foreign operator of the J-10CE, with Pakistan remaining China’s sole export customer for the aircraft to date.
The decision places Pakistan, rather than China alone, at the center of the aircraft’s growing export appeal. It was Pakistan’s own air force that gave the J-10CE its first high-intensity combat test, and it is that record, not a marketing pitch from Beijing, that Dhaka’s own officials are pointing to. One military analyst told the South China Morning Post the deal signals a broader shift in how Chinese-made weapons are perceived internationally, with global markets beginning to open on the strength of demonstrated battlefield results rather than reputation alone. For Islamabad, already navigating one of its most consequential stretches of regional influence in years, from a Security Council seat to an expanding network of Gulf defence pacts, Bangladesh’s decision adds a new dimension: other militaries are now shaping their own procurement choices around what Pakistan’s air force proved capable of.
Pakistan first ordered the J-10C in December 2021, acquiring a full squadron of 25 aircraft in response to India’s own purchase of French Rafale jets, and has operated the type since 2022. Reports of interest from other countries, including Egypt and Sudan, have circulated since Pakistan’s combat use of the aircraft, though those remain unconfirmed. Bangladesh’s move, by contrast, has now been officially acknowledged by a government adviser on the record, the clearest signal yet that Pakistan’s own experience with the aircraft is actively shaping other countries’ defence planning.
