Small Wars Journal | Tahir Azad
The May 2025 India–Pakistan crisis and the February 2026 United States–Israel–Iran war have significantly elevated the global perception of Chinese military technology, transforming it from a marginal alternative into a parallel defense-industrial ecosystem. Chinese arms exports offer competitive pricing, flexible financing, joint-production options, near-immediate access to dual-use technologies, and an alternative satellite-navigation backbone via BeiDou, all without the political conditions imposed by Western suppliers. For instance, Pakistani J-10CE fighters reportedly achieved combat kills against Indian Rafales in May 2025, and Iran transitioned its military and civilian applications to BeiDou in June 2025, enhancing missile precision during the current war. This contrasts sharply with the bureaucratic friction of Western programs like the F-35, which faces delays and downgrades for clients due to qualitative military edge considerations and concerns about Chinese telecommunications. Despite its appeal, the Chinese model faces weaknesses including thin after-sales support, exposure to secondary United States sanctions, and a modest 5.6 percent share of global arms exports, with 61 percent going to Pakistan.
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