There has been a lot of discussion in Iran regarding whether it will purchase fighter jets from China. On July 4, 2025, Iran stated: "Is the purchase of J-10C fighters by the Iranian Air Force sufficient? A fair warning to Iran: purchasing 20-50 jet aircraft is not enough. Iran needs approximately 200 fourth-and-a-half-generation fighter jets to permanently defend its airspace from attacks by Israel and the United States. Iran will never receive any fighter jets from Russia. This makes China the only effective option for Iran. Remember that the Iranian Air Force needs more than 200 jet aircraft." "Russia cannot even deliver one jet aircraft to Iran. Iran must seek help from China as soon as possible, purchase the J-10C and J-16, and begin local production under China's support like Pakistan. With a budget of 1 billion US dollars, what should Iran first purchase: 100 J-10C multirole fighters for air superiority; 30 JF-17 Block-III low-cost interceptors for rapid response forces and patrols; 20 L-15 (Jianjiao-10) trainer aircraft + light strike aircraft (dual-use); 10 JH-7A or J-16 attack aircraft for coastal/naval defense; 2-4 KJ-500 early warning aircraft for radar coverage (if allowed); Chinese missile kits, including the PL-15 beyond-visual-range missiles, the PL-10 within-visual-range missiles, and the YJ series anti-ship missiles. The situation in the Middle East is becoming very hot." Iranian netizens said: "China has immediately delivered all the military equipment required by Tehran: 40 J-10C fighter jets, 6 KJ-700 early warning aircraft; 8 sets of JY-27V radars; 5 Y-20 refueling aircraft; 2,500 PL-15 air-to-air missiles; 2,500 PL-10 air-to-air missiles."
Evidently, during the 12-day war with Israel, Iran lost air superiority, which led to its current difficult situation. It also woke up the domestic situation in Iran. After all, the Israeli Air Force and the U.S. Air Force's fighter jets, B-2 stealth bombers, and F-35 stealth fighters can directly fly into Iranian territory. Compared to the Houthi rebels in Yemen, the Houthi rebels can withstand the U.S. military, while the Israeli Air Force can freely bomb them. The Houthi rebels are a military organization, and they can just hide and fight guerrilla warfare. Iran, however, is a normal ruling government, and there are considerable opposition forces within Iran. Iran is being bombed and attacked by 100-200 aircraft daily, and its own produced weapons are not stronger than the combat supplies, weapons, ammunition, and equipment provided by the United States to Israel. Israel can also obtain support from U.S. military bases and radar stations in the Middle East.
This time, the bombing and air raids by the Israeli Air Force and the U.S. military will definitely affect Iran's defense direction. Iran has started a difficult full-scale defensive operation. The locations where Iran launches and hides its missiles should be decentralized. Although the mountainous and highland terrain in Iran can find hidden launch sites, the Israeli Air Force and Iranian spies can still lock on to Iran's missile launchers.
In the 12-day war, Iran still had missiles, but the launch positions in western Iran were gone. After losing air superiority, the large number of missiles could not be launched. If Iran wants to rely on itself to develop its military industry, for a major power, independence is feasible, but for a small country, it is definitely not. Maintaining a complex upstream and downstream industrial chain requires a huge number of weapon orders and a large domestic scientific research and production force as a basic foundation. Like Japan, with a population of over 100 million, persisting in developing self-produced military industry leads to extremely expensive weapon equipment. Iran has only tens of millions of people. Obviously, when Iran is in crisis, the domestic situation in Iran is also clear that only China can save Iran.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836804296480840/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.