The Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon (Chinese: 歼-10 猛龙; pinyin: Jiān-10 Měnglóng; NATO reporting name: Firebird[4][5]), is a medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft using a delta wing and canard design.

In 1981, PLAAF Commander Zhang Tingfa submitted a proposal to Deng Xiaoping for the development of a third-generation fighter for CN¥ 500 million; it was accepted later that year by the Central Military Commission (CMC).

[6] In one departure from the past, the supplier was now responsible directly to the customer; this allowed the PLAAF to communicate its requirements and ensure they were met; previously suppliers were responsible to their managing agency, which could produce products that failed to meet end user requirements.

The following month, CADI and Chengdu Fighter Factory were formally directed to develop and manufacture the aircraft, respectively.

[8] It was officially unveiled by the Chinese government in January 2007, when photographs were published by Xinhua News Agency.

[15] In May 2021, China National Radio released images of the J-10C powered by the WS-10B engine;[16] this was the first time the WS-10 was officially seen on an operational J-10.

[18] In 2006, Russia's SibNIA engineers believed that the J-10 was "more or less a version" of the Lavi, incorporating "a melting pot of foreign technology and acquired design methods... but there are a number of other pieces of other aircraft or technologies that are part of the configuration that they have acquired from different sources.

"[15] In 2008, Janes claimed that the J-10 benefited from technical information from the Israeli project, citing senior Russian engineers who said they had heard this from Chinese colleagues.

[19] The Chinese assert J-10's features claimed to be from the Lavi are from the manufacturer's own previous aircraft design, for example attributing the J-10's Lavi-like double canard configuration to Chengdu's work on the cancelled J-9[7] of the 1960s and 1970s;[8] this view is supported by Song Wencong,[20] who worked on the J-9 and became the J-10's chief designer,[9] and PLAAF Major General Zhang Weigang.

[30] A pre-production J-10C flew with a WS-10 at the 2018 China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition; the engine nozzle was modified for stealth and thrust vectoring (TVC).

[26] In March 2020, a video from Chinese state media showed a J-10C in PLAAF livery equipped with the WS-10B;[28] WS-10B-powered aircraft were in service by November 2021.

[31] The aircraft's internal armament consists of a Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-23 twin-barrel cannon, located underneath the port side of the intake.

The fighter's lower radar signature and significantly more advanced sensors and weaponry for both visual and beyond-visual range engagements were cited by experts as leading advantages the aircraft retained.

[39] In December 2021, Pakistan announced the purchase of 25 J-10CEs, with an option for 11 more; they were expected to enter service in March 2022.

[5][43][44] On 18 January 2024, Pakistan launched a series of air and artillery strikes inside Iran, targeting Baloch separatist groups, multiple JF-17C and Wing Loong II drones escorted by J-10CE launched attacks against BLA and BLF militant groups with GIDS B-REK Glidebombs.

[45] On 12 November 2016, an August 1st Aerobatics Team training flight suffered a mid-air collision in Hebei.

[63] In October 2020, the People's Liberation Army Daily reported that a J-10 crashed after a bird strike disabled its engine.