Combat readiness of Chinese defence equipment remains highly doubtful

Hans India

7 days ago

The F-7BGI fighter jet of Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) that crashed earlier this week into the Milestone School and College campus killing dozens, mostly children, is a single-engine, lightweight fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. It is considered a modernized version of Chengdu F-7, also known as J-7 whose lineage can be traced back to the Soviet Mig-21. The People's Liberation Army Airforce (PLAAF) and other countries have continued to upgrade F-7 to F-7BGI for training and limited combat roles. China officially terminated production of the F-7 series in 2013 and Bangladesh bought the final match of these aircraft that same year. PLAAF decommissioned the entire J-7 fleet by the end of 2023.
Since 1992, the BAF has recorded 27 fighter aircraft, including trainer crashes. Further, from 2005 till date, BAF lost 11 aircraft in crashes, of these seven were Chinese aircraft, three Russian and one a Czech aircraft. Most of the crashes involved Chinese-origin aircraft. Over the years, the BAF has lost Wing Commanders, Squadron Leaders, Flight Lieutenants, Flying Officers, Warrant Officers and Cadet pilots. Surprisingly, despite the outdated equipment, BAF still continues to seal new defence deals with the Chinese.
Bangladesh imports about 85 per cent of defence equipment from China. This includes Tanks (MBT-2000, Type 59, Type 69), artillery systems, and small arms for the army; Frigates, missile boats, and submarines (Ming-class) for the Navy and fighter jets (F-7 BGI, K-8W training jets) for its Air Force.
Pakistan too is dependent on China for more than 85 per cent of its military requirement. Despite Pakistan's financial constraints and reliance on foreign loans, Pakistan has spent a lot of money over the last five years to buy Chinese defence equipment to modernise its own military. Pakistan has a significant inventory of Chinese-origin weapons and systems, including air defence systems, J-10 and JF-17 fighters, submarines, and warships.
Between 2020-24, China had supplied 81 per cent of Pakistan's total arms imports, making Beijing Islamabad's largest arms supplier. This included fighter jets JF-17 Thunder (co-developed), J-10C Firebird; submarines like Hangor-class (Type 039B/041); Type 054A/P Frigates (Tughril-class); Air Defence Systems (ADS) HQ-9 Long-Range Air Defence, LY-80 (HQ-16 export version); Tanks: VT-4 Main Battle Tanks (Haider); Artillery: SH-15 155mm howitzers and Drones: Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs) like CH-4 'Rainbow'. Wing Loong II and Azmat-class Fast Attack Crafts vessels, equipped with C-802A anti-ship missiles, have also been built with the Chinese assistance. At the same time, Pakistan continues to lean towards Chinese platforms.
India's 'Operation Sindoor' post-spine-chilling attack on tourists in Pahalgam on April 22 by Pakistan-based terror group The Resistance Front (TRF), practically neutralised Pakistani ADS at a number of locations across the border.
Chinese weapons and China's grand experiment to turn Pakistan into a testing ground for its military hardware backfired spectacularly, with Indian systems outperforming the Chinese ones. HQ-9 Chinese ADS failed to intercept Indian missiles. India struck Pakistan's Nur Khan Airbase Chaklala Cantonment in Rawalpindi, considered to be critical in Pakistan's military infrastructure.
Importantly, China had helped Pakistan in adjusting its satellite coverage over India during 'Operation Sindoor', which Pakistan acknowledged. In a major ELINT win, India was able to capture unique signal emissions and system behaviour linked to the Pakistan Air Force's J-10C and JF-17 multirole fighter jets, as well as PL 15 beyond-visual-range air-to-air and HQ-7 and HQ-9 surface-to-air missile systems, which were frontline Chinese-origin weapon systems.
Nigerian Air Force too had serious problems with the F-7Ni aircraft which was involved in accidents, including mid-air collision in 2018 during air display rehearsal. Seven aircraft were marked for high-tech maintenance in China including two aircraft slated for a life extension programme with the Chinese support within Nigeria. Similarly, several African countries including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan have had difficulties with the sub-standard Chinese Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Jordan's Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) was dissatisfied with the performance of the Chinese CH-4B drones in 2016 and subsequently put them up for sale in 2019.
China is happy selling its defence equipment to developing countries or to the least developed countries. Chinese defence firms sell the equipment indiscriminately. However, to maintain its dominance in the military sphere at the global level, China never allows export of advanced variants of defence equipment. Moreover, China has deftly sold defence equipment to governments and regimes without any regard for human rights violations or degree of stability or intentions and little accountability. The developing countries continue to operate these faulty Chinese defence equipment causing fatal accidents.
China's Military-Industrial Complex (MIC) plays a crucial role in forming the defence and security landscape of other buyer nations. China is adept in using espionage to acquire defence technology. Recently, the US Department of Defence (DoD) had accused Beijing in this regard.
China is the fourth largest arms exporter globally. It holds 5.8 per cent share of the global arms bazaar. In 2010, China was the world's second largest arms importer. China's sudden leap in every domain - fighter jets, warships, missile systems, space technology and drones - has deeply upset several countries. China's defence equipment exports are primarily concentrated in Asia. A substantial portion of China's arms exports is to Pakistan.
China's defence exports touched a 10-year high in 2022 with USD $3.24 billion. However, China continues to face challenges in meeting its sophisticated quality defence exports equipment spearheaded by President Xi Jinping, aimed at especially supporting China's rise as a global military power. China offers weapons at a favourable low price, including credits and soft loans compared to the Western countries.
The rise of China's in-house defence industry has resulted in lesser quality control. Furthermore, developing countries have few alternatives and affordability is the key issue. Inferior technology weapons, inconsistent performance, defective components, and insufficient after-sales service have become synonymous with China's military hardware. These issues have damaged and will continue to destroy China's reputation as an arms exporter.