Among the "Three Musketeers" of the Chinese Air Force's new-generation combat system, the J-20 and J-16 are both heavy fighters with larger airborne radars and detection ranges, so their air combat mode is dominated by over-the-horizon air. Only the J-10C is a medium-sized fighter with a delta-wing layout, which can only carry two over-the-horizon air-to-air missiles in the past, and is considered to be an air superiority fighter with more emphasis on combat capabilities. However, with the export of the J-10CE to Pakistan, and the strong demand for bombs for the aircraft by Pakistan Railway, it eventually gave birth to a double pylon. In this way, the J-10C, which the Chinese Air Force itself equipped, has recently been armed to the teeth, and after being equipped with twin pylons, the long-range combat firepower has soared significantly. With 3 auxiliary fuel tanks and a reconnaissance subpod, the number of air-to-air missiles carried by the J-10C has changed from 2 over-the-horizon missiles + 2 combat missiles to 4 over-the-horizon missiles + 2 combat missiles.
Don't think that the J-10C just has two more missiles, in fact, this move makes up for the lack of air-to-air missiles in the aircraft's air superiority operations, and even allows its combat mode to be dominated by over-the-horizon air combat. Judging from the public information, the J-10C has a total of 11 external attachment points, but these attachment points do not mean that they can all be hung with a longer air-to-air missile. In fact, the J-10C's 7-ton external capacity, when used in air-to-air combat, is 4 air-to-air missiles. The hardpoints closer to the wing roots can often only be equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, which is also necessary for medium fighters to increase the combat radius, and the delta wing used by the J-10C results in no wingtip pylons.
Although the J-10C released in the Eastern Theater carries 4 Thunderbolt 12s, in fact, the aircraft has 4 over-the-horizon air-to-air missiles, including a combination of Thunderbolt 12 and Thunderbolt 15. On the premise of ensuring the aircraft's strong maneuverability, this air superiority mount mode has obtained the ability to launch over-the-horizon air-to-air missiles four times. In particular, when two types of air-to-air missiles are mounted, the advantages of the flight envelope of each missile can be better used to hit targets. In comparison, both the "Typhoon" and the Rafale can hang 4 over-the-horizon air-to-air missiles, and the F-16's air superiority combat mode can also hang 4 AIM-120 + 2 AIM-9.
This capability will play an important strategic value for large-scale air warfare, or a systematic combat environment. Many people do not understand the value of the number of air-to-air missiles mounted, which can be seen from the fact that the American F-15E pursues a maximum of 16 AIM120s. The J-16 is a heavy fighter that can also mount 10 air-to-air missiles for combat, and can even mount 6 Thunderbolt 15s at the same time, which is also very powerful. In an air combat environment with multiple enemy aircraft, this fighter has a certain situational awareness advantage, and the effect of multi-mount Thunderbolt-15 will be very large, and the J-10C can shoot down the opponent even without entering the close-range combat mode. Of course, we are not saying that the more air-to-air missiles the better, like the F-15E hanging 16 air-to-air missiles is more like a show, because hanging too many missiles will increase flight resistance and lack of use scenarios.
If the positioning of the J-10 series fighters in the past was homeland air defense, after the use of dual mounting, its air superiority combat capability no longer has shortcomings, which means that its combat style has also changed to over-the-horizon air combat. If we take into account the superiority of Chinese fighters in the field of radar and air-to-air missile performance, coupled with the world's leading AWACS technology, such a payload capability is equivalent to doubling the aircraft's over-the-horizon air combat capabilities. Considering that the cost of such a modification is relatively small, the Chinese Air Force is likely to fully promote the dual pylon technology, which will further consolidate the position of the J-10C as the world's strongest 3.5 generation fighter.