Nigerian Air Force is set to buy three JF-17 Thunder fighter jets from Pakistan at the cost of USD 184.3 million. Economic Coordination Council (ECC), a top economic body of the country, has approved the proposed sale to Nigeria.
Pakistan and Nigeria reportedly had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in 2016 for the purchase of JF-17 thunders, in addition to purchase of 10 Pakistani MFI-17 Super Mushshak trainer aircrafts.
Nigeria will be the second overseas buyer of Pakistan’s indigenously-built combat aircraft after Myanmar. In 2015, Myanmar ordered 16 JF-17 Thunder jets, the delivery of which is yet to be confirmed.
During Paris Air Show in 2015, Air Commodore Khalid Mehmood confirmed that a contract has been signed with an Asian country. The overseer of PAF marketing and sales declined to unveil the buyer over client sensitivities.
JF-17 Thunder is an advanced, light-weight, and multi-role fighter aircraft, which is a joint masterpiece of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), Kamra and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation (CAC) of China.
PAC rolled out first JF-17 prototype aircraft (called FC-1) in May 2003. It made its first flight in August 2003; however it was formally presented to the countrymen on 23-March-2007, after completing its basic flight testing.
The JF-17 Thunder was showcased in the international market for the first time at Farnborough Air Show UK in 2010. First PAC natively produced JF-17 aircraft was handed over to Pakistan Air Force in November 2009. Since then, these combat planes have been regularly produced domestically to meet the needs of the PAF.
Painted in Pakistan colors, the JF-17 aircraft rocked the Poland skies and amazed the audience by its thundering aerial display including muscle climb, thunder turns, slow speed performance, and inverted flight aerobics during Radom International Airshow 2018 in August this year.
Although Pakistan’s JF-17 and Indian HAL Tejas are very much comparable in specification at different levels such as easy maintenance, lightness, and maneuverability – but the JF-17’s availability for sale gives it an enormous advantage over HAL Tejas.
As a matter of fact, HAL Tejas has taken over three decades to reach at current level. On the other hand, JF-17 Thunder has not only gathered operational experience but has also found international buyers as well which makes it more popular.
Moreover, JF-17 is in active service for 11 years and is a battle-proven fighter jet. It has performed commendably during Pakistan army’s military operation Zarb-e-Azb. It was never made to compete with F-16, rather just to replace the aging fleet.
Again, if the Tejas were even close to good, Indian Air Force would have not been looking for Falcons and Gripens. The hard truth is that even after 35 years of development, the Tejas continue to be plagued with problems.
Last year, Indian vice army chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Chand slammed Indian Ordnance Factories for not keeping the pace with the changing technologies.
‘I would even go to the extent that Pakistan probably has a better industrial base, as far as defense production is concerned, than our country. In fact, they export defense equipment abroad, definitely more than what we are doing’, he said.
Several countries like Egypt, Malaysia, Poland, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have shown interest in Pakistan’s JF-17 aircraft because it is low-cost fighter jet (almost half of F-16) and is also very effective.
So far, Pakistan has rolled out more than 100-units of two versions of JF-17 (Block I and Block II), which are powered by a Russian-designed Klimov RD-93 single-turbofan engine, a derivative of RD-33 used in MiG-29 fighter jet.
JF-17 Thunder has a combat radius of 1,200 kilometers without any refueling requirements. It is capable of carrying a weapon payload of over 3.5 tons and can also be equipped with air-to-air, air-to-surface, and anti-ship missiles.
Pakistan is also quickly moving forward to produce next-generation JF-17 Thunder Block III aircraft, which will be equipped with Chinese-made active electronic scanning array (AESA) radar system.
The dual-seated Block III will also be supported by newer multi-functionality display (MFD), more powerful engine (RD-93MA) to lift the maximum speed to2,500 km/h (>2.0 Mach) , helmet mounted display, upgraded avionics suit and electronic warfare, and built-in air-to-air refueling.
Earlier this year, Pakistan Air Chief had announced that the design of the JF-17 Block III has been finalized. The production of latest variant is expected to start in 2019. The aircraft will be capable to match the US’ F-16.
Additionally, PAC has established a new office – Aviation Research, Indigenization & Development (AvRID) to develop fifth-generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) to meet the needs of Air Staff Requirements (ASR).
Project Azm is a long-term major national plan and would necessitate massive work and large-scale synergic cooperation with industrial and academic organizations. Nevertheless, it would encounter certain challenges such as materials, propulsion, sensor, and mission systems etc.
The FGFA team will be responsible for the development of such kind of advanced aircraft while AvRID will ensure the supply of the required technologies and systems. The success of the development of FGFA would entirely end Pakistan’s reliance on foreign suppliers.