Bangladesh’s $2.3 Billion J-10CE Fighter Deal Awaits Final Approval

Bangladesh’s armed forces are waiting on a final go-ahead from the Ministry of Finance for a $2.3 billion purchase of 20 Chinese-built J-10CE multirole fighters, a deal that would make the Bangladesh Air Force the latest operator of China’s export answer to the F-16 and would end decades of reliance on an aging mix of Chinese F-7s and Russian MiG-29s.

The purchase has not been signed. What has happened, according to Bangladesh’s own interim government, is that an inter-ministerial committee has finished a draft agreement, the Armed Forces Division has asked the Finance Ministry to approve a cost increase, and officials now expect a signature during the 2026-27 fiscal year, which runs through June 2027. That puts Dhaka on course to join Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Indonesia as operators or buyers of the J-10CE, deepening China’s push into fighter-jet export markets long dominated by Russia and the West.

What Happened

On August 25, 2026, Zahed Ur Rahman, the information and broadcasting adviser to Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, told reporters at the Secretariat in Dhaka that a draft purchase agreement for the J-10CE had been prepared and that the country was “seriously considering the aircraft.” His statement was the government’s first on-record confirmation of a deal that had been rumored and partially reported since late 2025.

The numbers he and subsequent Armed Forces Division correspondence laid out are specific. Bangladesh is negotiating for 20 J-10CE jets at a base price of $62.7 million each, up from an earlier estimate of $60 million. Once training, spares, technical and logistical support, freight, insurance, VAT and construction work are added, the all-in cost rises to nearly $115 million per aircraft, for a total package of about $2.302 billion, or roughly Tk28,314 crore at an exchange rate of Tk123 to the dollar. The Finance Ministry had earlier given in-principle approval to a smaller figure, $2.20 billion, or Tk27,060 crore; the Armed Forces Division wrote to the ministry on August 4 seeking approval for the difference.

Of the 20 aircraft, 10 would be added to the Bangladesh Air Force’s formal Table of Organisation and Equipment, with the other 10 held outside that structure, according to the Armed Forces Division’s own breakdown — a split that Bangladeshi officials have not explained in public and that this article cannot independently verify the reasoning for.

The process traces back to an 11-member inter-ministerial committee formed in April 2025 and chaired by the Bangladesh Air Force’s chief of staff, and gained momentum after Yunus raised the purchase during a visit to China in March 2025. The deal is structured as a government-to-government agreement with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC), the state trading arm that handles J-10CE exports, rather than a commercial sale. Under the financing plan described by officials, the Finance Ministry would disburse funds in annual lump sums over 10 years, through fiscal year 2035-36.

Separately, and with no cost or quantity disclosed, Bangladeshi officials have said procurement is also underway for additional multirole combat aircraft, attack helicopters, VIP transport helicopters and unmanned aerial systems. Those programs are distinct from the J-10CE purchase and should not be conflated with it.

The Product/System

The J-10CE is CATIC’s export designation for the J-10C, a single-engine, canard-delta multirole fighter built by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, a subsidiary of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). The J-10C is the most advanced production variant of China’s first indigenously developed fourth-generation fighter family, fitted with an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, an infrared search-and-track sensor, and compatibility with the PL-15 beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile — among the longer-ranged air-to-air weapons in service anywhere. Export variants sold abroad typically carry a reduced-capability radar and avionics suite and the shorter-ranged PL-15E, a distinction manufacturers routinely apply to export versions of front-line weapons and one that has not been independently detailed for Bangladesh’s prospective order.

Bangladesh’s own rationale for the purchase, as described by Rahman, leans heavily on the J-10C’s role in the India-Pakistan clash of May 2025, when Pakistani officials and state media said a Pakistan Air Force J-10C shot down an Indian Air Force Rafale. That claim remains contested: India has not confirmed a Rafale loss to a J-10C, and no independent, on-the-record forensic confirmation of the engagement has been published. Rahman’s citing of it as a selling point reflects Dhaka’s stated reasoning, not a verified combat record.

Who Uses It

• Pakistan — confirmed operator. The Pakistan Air Force received its first J-10C aircraft in 2022 and has since expanded the fleet to roughly 20-25 jets, becoming CATIC’s first export customer for the type.
• Uzbekistan — confirmed. State television footage broadcast during Uzbekistan’s August 28, 2026 independence day celebrations showed six J-10CE aircraft, with serials 1011 through 1026, in Uzbek Air Force markings at Karshi-Khanabad air base. Neither Tashkent nor Beijing has issued a full official statement on contract size, price or delivery schedule.
• Indonesia — reported, not yet delivered. Jakarta’s defense ministry has said it expects to receive J-10CE jets within six months of an October 2026 statement, as part of a broader fighter-fleet diversification that already includes Rafale orders from France.
• Azerbaijan — unconfirmed interest only. CATIC displayed a full-scale J-10CE mockup bearing Azerbaijani air force markings at the ADEX-2026 defense exhibition in Baku in late September 2026; Azerbaijani officials have not confirmed any purchase, and Azerbaijan already operates Pakistani-supplied JF-17 Block III fighters.
• Bangladesh — the subject of this article, and the furthest along among prospective customers after Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Indonesia, though still short of a signed contract.

Export/Procurement History

CATIC spent more than a decade marketing the J-10 family for export with limited success before Pakistan’s 2022 order broke through, reportedly accelerated by Islamabad’s urgency to counter India’s Rafale acquisition. China has since pressed the J-10CE at successive air shows — Zhuhai in 2024, ADEX in Baku in 2026 — as evidence accumulated of Uzbek and Indonesian interest. Bangladesh’s own process began in earnest after the political transition that brought Yunus’s interim government to power in 2024, with the committee process launched in April 2025 and the first public confirmation of a draft agreement arriving in August 2026. No contract has been signed as of this writing, and Bangladeshi officials have said the agreement could slip into the following fiscal year if budget allocation is not finalized in time.

Global Competitors

At an all-in cost of roughly $115 million per aircraft, the J-10CE sits well above lower-cost options such as the single-engine JF-17 Block III (roughly $25-30 million per unit, also Pakistani-assembled with Chinese design input) and below marquee Western fighters: a Rafale package, including weapons, training and support, has historically priced out above $200 million per aircraft in deals with Indonesia and Egypt, while F-16 Block 70/72 offers have generally undercut that figure but still run above $100 million per jet once support packages are included. For Bangladesh specifically, the J-10CE is replacing — rather than competing against — the Bangladesh Air Force’s existing Chengdu F-7 fleet (a licensed Chinese derivative of the MiG-21) and a small number of Russian-supplied MiG-29 Fulcrums, both of which Bangladeshi and international analysts describe as nearing the end of useful service life on spares and airframe-hours grounds. Moscow, historically Dhaka’s other major supplier, has not been reported as a contender in the current fighter competition, and no Western manufacturer has been named as a rival bidder for this specific tranche.

Why It Matters

A signed Bangladesh order would mark China’s fourth-known J-10CE export relationship within roughly four years, reinforcing Beijing’s emergence as a serious competitor to Russia in fighter markets it once dominated across South and Central Asia — a shift already visible in Uzbekistan’s parallel pivot away from exclusively Russian-sourced combat aircraft. It would also tie Bangladesh’s air force more closely to Chinese logistics, munitions and training pipelines at a time when Dhaka’s relations with India — already strained following the 2024 ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina — remain unsettled. Critics inside Bangladesh, cited in regional reporting, have raised concerns about the cost burden on a ten-year payment schedule and about growing technical dependence on a single foreign supplier; those are open policy debates in Dhaka rather than settled outcomes.

What Happens Next

The immediate step is a final Finance Ministry decision on the increased $2.3 billion cost ceiling the Armed Forces Division requested on August 4. If approved, officials have said a government-to-government agreement with CATIC would be signed within fiscal year 2026-27, with payments spread over ten years through FY2035-36. No public timeline has been given for first deliveries, and — as with Uzbekistan’s and Indonesia’s orders — unit counts, final pricing and delivery dates should be treated as provisional until Dhaka or Beijing issues a formal joint announcement or the agreement is signed.

FAQ

Has Bangladesh signed a contract to buy J-10CE fighters from China?

No. As of the most recent official confirmation, in August 2026, a draft agreement was awaiting final Finance Ministry approval, with signing expected sometime during the 2026-27 fiscal year. No purchase agreement has been publicly confirmed as signed.

How much will Bangladesh’s J-10CE fighters cost?

Bangladeshi officials have cited a total package of about $2.3 billion for 20 aircraft, working out to roughly $115 million per jet once training, logistics, spares, insurance and construction costs are included on top of a $62.7 million base price.

What aircraft will the J-10CE replace in Bangladesh’s air force?

The Bangladesh Air Force’s aging Chengdu F-7 fleet, a Chinese-built derivative of the Soviet MiG-21, along with a small number of Russian-supplied MiG-29 Fulcrums that analysts say are approaching the end of their service life.

Which other countries fly or have ordered the J-10CE?

Pakistan was the first export customer, receiving J-10C aircraft from 2022. Uzbekistan displayed J-10CE jets in national markings in August 2026. Indonesia has said it expects deliveries within six months of an October 2026 statement. Azerbaijan has shown interest via a mockup display but has not confirmed a purchase.

Why is Bangladesh’s interim government buying Chinese rather than Western fighters?

Officials have pointed to cost, China’s willingness to offer government-to-government financing over a ten-year term, and — according to information adviser Zahed Ur Rahman — the J-10C’s reported performance in the May 2025 India-Pakistan air clash, a claim that remains contested and unverified by independent sources.

Sources

• Zahed Ur Rahman, Bangladesh interim government information and broadcasting adviser, Secretariat press briefing, August 25, 2026 — primary source for draft-agreement confirmation and cost figures, reported by The Business Standard.
• “Draft agreement prepared for Chinese J-10CE fighter jet purchase: Adviser Zahed,” The Business Standard, August 25, 2026 (tbsnews.net) — cost breakdown, committee structure, financing plan.
• “Bangladesh confirms Chinese J-10CE jet deal, citing Rafale kill in India-Pakistan clash,” South China Morning Post, August 2026 (scmp.com) — official confirmation and geopolitical framing.
• “Bangladesh’s J-10CE fighter plan stirs China dependence fears,” Asia Times, August 2026 (asiatimes.com) — domestic criticism and dependency concerns.
• “Uzbekistan Confirms Chinese J-10CE Fighters at Karshi Base,” Defense & Tech, October 16, 2026 — regional comparison, Uzbekistan delivery details.
• “Indonesia’s J-10CE Fighters From China Due Within 6 Months,” Defense & Tech, October 11, 2026 — regional comparison, Indonesia order status.
• “China’s J-10CE Fighter Appears with Azerbaijan Flag, Suggesting Possible Sale,” Defensemirror.com, October 3, 2026 — Azerbaijan mockup display context.
• “J-10C Fighter Specs, Weapons, Combat Claims and Operators,” Defense & Tech, October 23, 2026 — platform background and existing-operator detail.