"Losses are part of combat," the Indian Air Force said — a terse line that underlines how quickly battlefield claims and counterclaims can change markets as well as reputations.
Chengdu Aircraft Corporation's sales boom: numbers that speak
Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC), the AVIC unit that makes the J-10 family, reported 2025 revenue of about 75.4 billion yuan — roughly $11 billion — a 15.8 percent increase, with profit rising 6.5 percent to 3.4 billion yuan. Its first-quarter 2026 sales jumped nearly 80 percent, a rise described as close to doubling. Those figures arrived in the months after the May 2025 India–Pakistan aerial clashes and have been widely cited as evidence that battlefield perception translates quickly into procurement demand.
The May 2025 aerial clashes: claims, contestation, and the PL-15
The J-10C gained outsized attention after Pakistan used the platform in combat during the May 2025 clashes and Pakistan claimed it shot down several Indian aircraft, including a French-made Rafale. Reuters reported that U.S. officials believed a Pakistani Chinese-made jet brought down at least two Indian military aircraft, while a Reuters analysis linked the downing of a Rafale to India’s misjudgment of the range of China’s PL-15 missile. India acknowledged aircraft losses without fully detailing them and said, through the Indian Air Force, that "losses are part of combat." India also publicly asserted that it had shot down Pakistani aircraft. The J-10C’s battlefield performance remains contested; the competing narratives make clear how much arms markets can move on perception before complete evidence arrives.
Pakistan as China’s most visible defense showcase
Pakistan inducted the J-10C in 2022, and its use in combat made the jet a visible, battlefield-tested example for potential buyers. SIPRI’s 2025 arms transfer data showed Pakistan became the world’s fifth-largest major arms importer for 2021–25, with imports up 66 percent; China supplied 80 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports during that period. The combination of Pakistan’s prominent role as a customer and the timing of the clashes elevated the J-10C from a lower-cost alternative to a platform with demonstrated combat credentials, at least in the eyes of many prospective buyers.
Indonesia’s evaluation and reported procurement decision
International interest followed swiftly. Reuters reported in June 2025 that Indonesia was evaluating the J-10 while weighing cost, compatibility and after-sales support. By October 2025, the Associated Press reported that Indonesia planned to acquire at least 42 J-10C fighters, with a reported budget of more than $9 billion. Those moves illustrate how a single conflict and its publicized outcomes can reshape deliberations in far-flung procurement offices.
What this means for procurement leaders, policymakers, and defense companies
- Procurement leaders: Buyers weighing new fighters will now factor battlefield perception alongside cost, interoperability and maintenance — the J-10C’s contested combat record has nonetheless given it the prized label of "combat-tested" in some procurement debates.
- Policymakers and regulators: The episode highlights a new layer of competition: Associated Press reporting says French intelligence believes China tried to undermine Rafale sales after the clash, and Reuters reported similar allegations from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission; China rejected those claims. That dynamic blurs military competition with information operations that regulators and diplomats must track.
- Defense companies: Dassault continues to promote the Rafale as a high-end multirole fighter, and in 2025 India signed an agreement with France to purchase 26 Rafale‑Marine aircraft, which Dassault confirmed will join the 36 Rafales already operated by the Indian Air Force. At the same time, CAC’s reported revenue and sales spike shows how combat exposure can directly boost a manufacturer’s commercial fortunes.
The sudden surge in demand for Chinese fighters after the May 2025 clashes is a reminder that in defense procurement, perception can be as powerful as proof. As the reporting notes, it is impossible to prove that every new order flowed from Pakistan’s battlefield claims — yet the timing is hard to dismiss. Whether the J-10C’s newly acquired reputation endures will depend on further operational records, buyer experience with maintenance and integration, and how competing information campaigns shape purchase decisions.
