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Pakistan hopeful of JF-17 delivery within 6 months: Mukhtar By AFP Published: May 20, 2011 BEIJING: Pakistan hopes to take delivery within the next six months of 50 JF-17 fighter jets manufactured jointly with China, Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar said Friday during a visit to Beijing. Mukhtar made the comments on the sidelines of a meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who was wrapping up a four-day visit to China. “We think there is a good deal,” said Mukhtar, who put the price of each JF-17, or Thunder, aircraft at $20-25 million “as compared...

China to give Pakistan 50 JF-17 aircrafts BEIJING: China will give 50 JF-17 aircrafts to Pakistan on emergency basis while reaffirming to standby Pakistan. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani met his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on Wednesday. Both Gilani and Jiabao discussed bilateral relations, strategic matters and host of other issues, including Abbottabad operation. The two leaders also discussed Abbottabad operation and its after affects on the regional situation, according to media reports. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Wednesday reaffirmed two countries will maintain an all-weather friendship. The two prime ministers agreed in principle...

The Pakistan-China JF-17 Thunder combat jet programme has entered the serial production stage, with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani Tuesday describing the venture as the "flagship" of the strategic and defence cooperation between the two 'all-weather' allies. "This project can truly be termed as the flagship of our historic cooperation and its success would certainly strengthen our time-tested friendship," Gilani said while addressing a gathering of Pakistani and Chinese technicians during a visit to the JF-17 production facility at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra. Gilani said the Thunder combat jet programme has entered the serial production stage. Pakistan Air...

Pakistan to build radar for JF-17 'Thunder' fighter By Farhan Bokhari 24 December 2010 The chief of staff of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has told Jane's that Pakistan has built its first facility to manufacture radars for fighter aircraft. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman said the indigenously produced radar, built with China's assistance at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), in Kamra, north of Islamabad, would equip the JF-17 'Thunder' fighter aircraft jointly produced by the two countries. "This is a major step forward. This will be the first such [radar manufacturing] facility in Pakistan," ACM Suleman said in...

Pakistan Expands Fighter Force Dec 21, 2010 By Robert Wall London The Pakistani air force is gearing up for a major expansion of its JF-17 single-engine fighter force. The service just began taking delivery of the first batch of Chengdu FC-1/JF-17s (now produced in Pakistan) this year, with about half of the 42 ordered now in place. With one squadron operational, service officials now plan to set up a second unit. What’s more, the Pakistani government hopes to order a second batch of 50 fighters next year, says Air Commo.Junaid, who is involved in the JF-17 project. Pakistan is looking...

Success of jet fighter project roars like 'Thunder' By Ai Yang (China Daily) Neighbors consider cooperation on road and railway construction BEIJING - Jets, roads, railways and civilian nuclear facilities are among the projects of cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad, said Pakistan's top envoy to China. "The JF-17 (a combat aircraft developed by China and Pakistan) is a prized asset for China and Pakistan, and now we have the platform of cooperation. We'd like to further develop it," Masood Khan, Pakistani ambassador to China, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily prior to Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the...

Capabilities & sale of JF-17 fighter Air Marshal Ayaz A Khan (R) The first JF-17 Thunder squadron was inducted into the PAF in 2009. The induction 150 of state of the art Pak-China built JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft, will enhance operational capability of Pakistan Air Force. With improved performance for ground attack and air defense, Pakistani air power should be able to destroy the terrorist net works in North Waziristan, and elsewhere in FATA along the Pak-Afghan border. With electronic and visual detection systems and precision weapons, stocks of illegal munitions hidden by the criminals in caves could be blasted,...

2010: After unsuccessful attempts to obtain Western electronics for its new JF-17 jet fighter, Pakistan has announced that it will use Chinese gear instead. China initially offered to fit out the JF-17s with electronics and weapons, but the Pakistanis were leery of the untried Chinese equipment. Meanwhile, India and the United States pressured France not to allow Pakistan to buy advanced radars and other electronics for the Pakistani built JF-17 jet fighter. This was because China did most of the development on the JF-17, and Chinese personnel would be involved in any effort to install French electronics in these aircraft....

China is replacing the engines in its J-10 fighter, installing the Chinese made WS-10A in place of Russian made AL-31F. The Chinese consider the WS-10A a superior engine to the AL-31F, even though the WS-10A copied a lot of the Russian technology. As delivered from Russia, the AL-31 is good for 900 hours of operation. Chinese engineers figured out how to tweak the design of the engine so that it lasted for 1,500 hours. This feat is part of a growing trend. At first, decades ago, China simply figured out how to build Russian weapons they had bought. But in...

Chinese Jets Today At Bygone Price Nov 22, 2010 By Staff ZHUHAI, CHINA– Airshow China is hosting the first international demonstration of the Chengdu JF-17/FC-1, flown here by a team from the Pakistan air force. Officials from China’s Aviation Industries of China (Avic) and China Aero-Technology Import Export Corporation (Catic) tell Aviation Week that despite the low price of the aircraft, it is not a low-tech piece of equipment, but rather a “21st century product.” Catic Vice President Zeng Wen told Show News “one of the most impressive features of the JF-17 is its diverterless air inlets – negating the...

Beijing in talks with at least six buyers for JF-17s Low-cost fighter jets spur interest from developing nations at show Choi Chi-yuk in Zhuhai Nov 19, 2010 At least half a dozen potential buyers are negotiating with Beijing to purchase JF-17 Thunders, fighter jets jointly manufactured by the mainland and neighbouring Pakistan, during the ongoing week-long air show in Zhuhai . Without specifying which countries were considering the aircraft, Zeng Wen , vice-president of the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corp (CATIC), was quoted by Flightglobal.com, the website of British aerospace weekly Flight International, as saying: "We're talking with...

'Chinese AWACS will revolutionise air defence' Rezaul H Laskar Islamabad, Nov 21 (PTI) The induction of Chinese-made airborne warning and control system aircraft in the Pakistan Air Force beginning next year will bring about a "revolution" in air defence operations, the air force chief said today. Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, currently on a visit to China, told state-run APP news agency that his force has plans to induct four Shaanxi ZDK-03 AWACS aircraft in its inventory. Suleman recently attended the roll out ceremony in Hanzhong for the first ZDK-03 aircraft designed specifically for PAF. He said countries without...

Pakistan has confirmed it will buy Chinese missiles and flight systems to equip its 250 JF-17 Thunder jet fighters as it seeks to deepen military cooperation with Beijing, state media said Thursday. Rao Qamar Suleman, air chief marshal of the Pakistan Air Force, told the Global Times newspaper Chinese radar systems and SD-10 mid-range homing missiles would be used on the fighters co-developed by the two nations. “PAF has no plans to install Western devices and weapons on the aircraft for the time being,” the newspaper quoted Suleman as saying. Pakistan may also buy up to four Chinese surface-to-air missiles,...

Zhuhai10: China in talks with several potential JF-17 customers By Greg Waldron China is in discussions about selling the Chengdu Aircraft/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex JF-17 Thunder fighter to up to eight countries. The third-generation, single-engine fighter, which was jointly developed by Pakistan and China, is being pitched as a replacement for several existing types. These include the RSK MiG-21, Dassault Mirage 5, Northrop F-5 and Chinese models, such as the Nanchang A-5 and Chengdu F-7. “We’re talking with six to eight countries about the JF-17,” says Zeng Wen, vice-president of the China National Aero-Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC), which markets...

A force to be reckoned with Posted on 9 August 2010 in Defence The Egyptian Air Force (EAF) or Al Quwwat Al Jawwiya Il Misriya, is one of the largest air arms in the region and is also one of the longest established. Formed in 1930 as the Egyptian Army Air Force, it became fully independent in 1937. Initially it had close links with the British Royal Air Force and was primarily equipped with British-supplied aircraft. Spitfires gave way to Meteors and Vampires before the 1952 revolution, after which the new president, General Gamal Abdel Nasser, turned to the Soviet...

China-made planes set to soar onto world market Chinese planes can make a "significant impact" on the world arms market, said an expert of a leading think tank. Two JF-17s, co-produced by China and Pakistan, have just made their international debut at an ongoing major international air show. Gary Li, who analyzes the People's Liberation Army for London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, also told China Daily that the Chinese air force is already "one of the strongest" in the world. "Currently China is engaged in a very rapid series of aircraft upgrades and diversification," Li said, noting that the...

China-Pak in MoU to Develop Variant on JF-17 Thunder Sujit Chatterjee/Farnborough Jul 19, 2010 China and Pakistan have reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a stealth version of a light-weight fighter aircraft being jointly produced by them to match MiG-21 warplane, a work horse of the Indian Air Force. JF-17 Thunder, also known as FC-1, being jointly built by Kamra-based Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) and Chengdu Aerospace Company (CAC) today made its first appearance at an international air show having flown in here after making refueling stops in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. The plane, which has been in...

FARNBOROUGH: Pakistan and China eye export JF-17 customers By Siva Govindasamy China and Pakistan are eyeing international customers for their Chengdu/Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) JF-17 fighter, which is making its Western air show debut at Farnborough. The countries jointly developed the aircraft, with the Pakistani air force receiving its first Chinese-manufactured examples in 2009. PAC also began indigenous assembly of the aircraft last year, and could incorporate western avionics, radars and other systems into the fighter from 2012. Pakistan could have around 28 JF-17s in service by year-end, and eventually induct up to 250. Both Pakistan and China are keen...

Russian and Chinese weapons manufacturers are clashing head on within the international arms market as China’s new fighter jet seems to be a cheaper imitation of the Russian original. The deal is facing opposition from Russian aircraft manufacturers, such as Mikhail Pogosyan, the head of the MiG and Sukhoi aviation holding, who said that the FC-1 is extremely close, if not the same, as the Russian-made MiG-29. Pogosyan claimed that FC-1 is a direct competitor to Russia's MiG-29 and the deal would incur losses for the Russian manufacturers. A source quoted by the Kommersant newspaper said there are significant price...

China will reportedly make a statement on its decision to supply two more nuclear reactors to Pakistan during the meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group this week in New Zealand . The Indian government has suggested it will be trying to call Beijing's bluff by exposing the underlying flaws in China's argument in support of such a deal. New Delhi has also made its reservations known to Beijing through diplomatic channels. But should it really come as a surprise that China is trying its best to maintain nuclear parity between India and Pakistan? After all, this is what China has...