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China’s J-10 ‘Dragon’ shows teeth in India-Pakistan combat debut
The skirmish is the first test of Beijing’s military hardware against advanced Western technology.
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A 2015 demonstration of China’s J-10 fighter jets in Thailand.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mehul Srivastava, Charles Clover and Humza Jilani
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Even before the fog of war had begun to lift, the Chengdu Aircraft Company’s stock had started to soar. Almost three decades after first taking to the skies, the Chinese plane maker’s first fighter jet, the J-10 Vigorous Dragon, had finally seen combat – and survived.
By 4am on May 7, Chinese diplomats in Islamabad were at the Foreign Ministry, poring over results from the first face-off between modern Chinese warplanes, replete with missiles and radars untested in battle, and advanced Western hardware deployed by India.
