Pakistan’s J - 10C fighter jets outclass American F 16s in performance
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Talking of fighter jets, one name that immediately comes to mind is F-16. In 1983, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) acquired the first batch of F-16 jets from the US. The first Pakistani F-16 was flown by Squadron Leader Shahid Javed at PAF Base Sargodha which is now known as PAF Base Mushaf.
The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter jet. It was initially designed as an air superiority day fighter aircraft. It later evolved into a formidable all-weather multirole jet.
Despite manufacturing the JF-17 fighters in collaboration with China in February 2010, F-16s still remain relevant in the national aerial defense and they will continue to do so in coming years.
Before inducting the JF-17s, PAF also used A-5C, J-7, Mirage III, and Mirage V jets to guard the aerial boundaries of Pakistan for decades.
F-16s, JF-17s, and the recently inducted J10-Cs now constitute the primary aerial defense of the country. PAF inducted the J-10C fighter jets after acquiring them from China in just eight months rather than years that defense manufacturers normally take to deliver a fighter jet such as the J-10C.
The J-10C fighter jet is a multi-role combat aircraft capable of all-weather operations. It is primarily designed for air-to-air combat but it can perform strike missions as well.
In the last article of this special series, we compared JF-17 and J-10C. In the latest edition, we are going to compare F-16 and J-10C. So without further ado, let’s dive straight into it. Basic Description
While the F-16 is lighter than J-10C and belongs to a previous generation, both have a similar engine and are designed for a similar role. *Attributes* *F-16* *J-10C* Weight Light-weight Medium-weight Engine Single-engine Single-engine Generation 4th generation 4.5thgeneration Role Multi-role Multi-role General Characteristics
The length of F-16 is shorter than J-10C while its fuel capacity is also significantly lower than J-10C. Both jets have almost similar remaining features. *Features* *F-16* *J-10C* Crew 2 1 Length 49 feet 5 inches 55 feet 2 inches Wingspan 32 feet 8 inches 32 feet 2 inches Height 16 feet 18 feet 8 inches Wing area 300 sq. ft. 400 sq. ft. Empty weight 8,936 kg 9,750 kg Max takeoff weight 16,875 kg 19,277 kg Fuel capacity 8,618 kg 7,380 kg Powerplant 1 × Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 afterburning turbofan, 79 kN thrust dry, 131.5 kN with afterburner 1 x WS-10B afterburning turbofan engines, 89.17 kN thrust dry, 142 kN with afterburner Performance
F-16 has a superior maximum speed and ferry range compared to the J-10. The rest of the characteristics are almost identical. *Characteristics* *F-16* *J-10C* Maximum Speed Mach 2.05 Mach 1.8 Ferry Range 4,217 km 2,950 km Service ceiling 58,000 feet 56,000 feet G limits +9 +9/-3 Thrust/weight 1.09 1.10 Armament
Both jets are loaded with a wide range of guns, rockets, air-to-air missiles, and air-to-surface missiles. *Weapons* *F-16* *J-10C* Guns 1 × 20 mm (0.787 in) M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrel rotary cannon, 511 rounds 1× Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 Hardpoints 2 × wing-tip air-to-air missile launch rails, 6 × under-wing, and 3 × under-fuselage pylon (2 of 3 for sensors) stations with a capacity of up to 7,700 kg of stores 11 (6× under-wing, 2× under-intake and 3× under-fuselage) with a capacity of 5600 kg of external fuel and ordnance Rockets LAU-61/LAU-68 rocket pods (each with 19/7 × Hydra 70 mm/APKWS rockets, respectively
LAU-5003 rocket pods (each with 19 × CRV7 70 mm rockets)
LAU-10 rocket pods (each with 4 × Zuni 127 mm rockets) 90 mm unguided rocket Air-to-air Missiles AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-120 AMRAAM
IRIS-T
Python-4
Python-5 PL-8
PL-10
PL-12
PL-15 Air-to-surface Missles AGM-65 Maverick
AGM-88 HARM
AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM)
AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) KD-88
YJ-91 Anti-ship Missiles AGM-84 Harpoon
AGM-119 Penguin – Bombs CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition
CBU-89 Gator mine
CBU-97 Sensor Fuzed Weapon
Mark 84 general-purpose bombs
Mark 83 GP bombs
Mark 82 GP bombs
GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB)
GBU-10 Paveway II
GBU-12 Paveway II
GBU-24 Paveway III
GBU-27 Paveway III
Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) series
Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD)
B61 nuclear bomb
B83 nuclear bomb 250 kg and 500 kg Pre-fragmented bomb
LT-2
LS-6
GB3
GB2A
GB3A
FT-1 Avionics *F-16* *J-10C* AN/APG-68 radar Type 1473H pulse-doppler fire control radar MIL-STD-1553 bus K/JDC01A targeting pod Type Hongguang-I infra-red search and track pod CM-802AKG targeting pod for KD-88 and YJ-91 KG600 electronic countermeasure pod Blue Sky navigation/attack pod Variants *F-16* *J-10C* F-16A J-10A F-16B J-10AH F-16C J-10S F-16D J-10SH F-16E J-10B F-16F J-10B TVC Demonstrator F-16IN J-10C F-16IQ J-10CE F-16N F-16V QF-16
