On June 29, 2025, the Pakistani Defense Minister, Khawaja Asif, denied reports that China would deliver the J-35A stealth fighter to the Pakistan Air Force before 2026. The host asked, "Is China going to deliver the J-35A fighter before 2026?" Pakistani Defense Minister Asif replied, "I think this is just media reports, you know, it's good for China's arms sales promotion." This incident was already preheated by Pakistani media last year, then domestic media reprinted and discussed it. After the air battle on May 7, Indian media first hyped it up, then Pakistani media did the same. Chinese domestic media has always been reprinted from foreign sources. According to the Pakistani defense minister's statement: "The Pakistan Air Force will not receive the J-35A fighter before 2026 or earlier." It's not that the Pakistan Air Force has no intention of purchasing the J-35A fighter; the contract has already been signed.

The fact that Pakistan buys the J-35 may be true, but it's not a large-scale delivery now. The J-35A fighter was specially ordered by the Pakistan Air Force, and the future order quantity will exceed 48-72 aircraft, which means the J-35A fighter needs to be customized and specially made for the Pakistan Air Force. Looking at the timeline, even if it is delivered to the Pakistan Air Force, it will only be 1-2 J-35A fighters for training pilots and submitting improvement requirements to China. In the past, the Iranian Air Force ordered 80 F-14A fighters from the United States, and one of them remained in the United States for testing, and the Iranian Air Force only received 79 F-14A fighters.

It is because India's weapons are more powerful than Pakistan's that there have been continuous attacks on Pakistan. Once the Pakistan Air Force has the J-35, India will not dare to attack Pakistan. Pakistan will not actively attack India, mainly because Pakistan's overall strength is not yet strong enough to counter India, as India's scale is too large. The combat capability of the Pakistan Air Force has always been superior to India's, and it can be said that in the case of similar weapons, it is stable superiority over India. The J-35 will definitely be sold to Pakistan, but it is impossible to deliver in large quantities within 2025 or before 2026, as China has not yet mass-produced it.

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1836341850436682/

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