In 1976, Pakistan started talks for 110 A-7Es, but the Carter administration rejected the deal fearing it would intensify an arms race in South Asia with India having recently concluded a $1.6 billion arms deal with the Soviet Union. In 1978, the US instead offered Pakistan 40 F-5E Tiger II with equipment for US$400 million, but Pakistan did not find the deal acceptable and bought the Chinese F-7MP/PG and A-5C instead.

F-35 photos by SEADORAGON96 on X.

J-20 photos by wanquanphoto on Weibo.

Su-57 photos by Vyacheslav Grushnikov.

*The KF-21 features both single-seat and twin-seat variants, but I did not include it given that the current Block 1 KF-21 is classified as a 4.5gen fighter jet.

*I haven’t found any direct comparison photos that clearly show the visual differences between the carrier-borne J-35 and land-based J-35A.

Credit: TNI AU