The footage aired on O'zbekiston 24 around the 35th anniversary of independence, and the defense ministry followed with its own video: aircraft in formation, taxiing shots, water salutes on the apron. The jets carried three external fuel tanks each, the ferry fit of an air force that owns no tankers.
Confirmation stops at 6 airframes. Earlier reporting put the order at 24 aircraft; no delivery schedule or contract value has been published by either side. Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military analyst speaking to Global Times, called the six a possible first batch.
A fighter buy is a 30-year relationship. Radars, munitions, training pipelines and overhaul cycles all come from the seller, and the J-10CE's radar and weapons fit nothing in the supply chain behind the mostly Soviet-built fleet Uzbekistan has flown since independence. Each flying hour deepens a parallel supply system.
The channel matters as much as the cargo. There was no signing ceremony and no communique; confirmation arrived as anniversary footage, deniable until it became routine. That is a recognizable Tashkent method: let the fact appear as background first.
“Each flying hour deepens a parallel supply system.”
The timing frames it. A day before the anniversary, Mirziyoyev and Xi set a $30 billion trade target in Bishkek, and the jet's combat pedigree is part of the pitch: Pakistan flew the type against Indian Rafales in May 2025.
Watch two things next: whether Moscow answers with a support offer on the legacy fleet, and whether a Chinese training footprint settles at Karshi-Khanabad.