If anyone wants to challenge my narrative, try find a more authoritative source than the official PLA military channel.
In the segment which starts at 4:19 which introduces the PLANAF unit operating both Su-30MK2 and J-10H, pilots of the division directly stated that they are mixing J-10 and Su-30 because while J-10 has the advantage in BVR and the flankers have the edge in a knife fight. This is because all flankers imported by China, other than the Su-35, still rely on the N001 series of twist-cassegrain radars that are markedly inferior to slotted array radars, even one carried by a medium fighter like the J-10. F-15s do not have this problem and a significant number of them in USAF have switched to AESA from slotted array.
This doesn’t even account for the disparities in missile load. In Golden Helmet exercises, J-11B routinely holds an advantage over the J-10 because they have superior endurance due to greater fuel capacity, greater missile load, and superior ECM suite. Do you seriously think that the latest block Eagles can’t do better?
I’m not saying this to disparage the J-10 series. I’m a big fan of the CAC and Chinese aviation and my avatar was in fact a J-10B in yellow primer before the J-20 came out. However, I’m sick and tired of people making exaggerated Jai-Hind style claims about what it can or cannot do.
Rant over.