China and Pakistan have secured a $4.6 billion order for 40 JF-17 Block III fighters, with the Azerbaijan Defence Ministry procuring the plane to considerably increase and modernise the nation’s fight aviation capabilities and section out Soviet-built MiG-29 fighters. The order expands Azerbaijan’s procurement from a earlier fleet of 16 fighters, the primary of which arrived within the nation in September 2024. The contract’s announcement by Pakistani authorities sources occurred a month after the brand new JF-17 variant’s heavier counterpart, the J-10C, gained main victories within the service of the Pakistan Air Drive in a collection of air battles with the Indian Air Drive, taking pictures down a minimum of one Rafale fighter amongst different successes. This considerably elevated the status of recent Chinese language ‘4+ era’ plane with their first main fight take a look at. The JF-17 Block III makes use of most of the identical applied sciences because the J-10C and has equally superior avionics and weapons, however is a lighter plane with a lot decrease procurement and operational prices, and has a way more conservative flight efficiency, whereas being restricted to carrying a smaller radar and weapons payload. The Pakistan Air Drive at present deploys each fighter lessons as a part of a high-low mixture, with the JF-17’s very low lifetime prices being a key issue permitting Azerbaijan to afford a fleet of 40 of the plane.
With the common price of the JF-17 Block III fighters anticipated to cowl solely a part of the $4.6 contract worth, it stays extremely unsure what different armaments Azerbaijan will procure as a part of the rest of the deal. A lifetime provide of spare elements, intensive weapons provides and know-how transfers, might elevate the worth of the JF-17s to a higher portion of the general contract worth. JF-17 fighters are assembled in each China and Pakistan on separate manufacturing strains, though these in-built Pakistan rely very closely on Chinese language inputs as a result of limitations of the Pakistani tech sector and industrial base. The fighter class was collectively developed by the 2 international locations, however doesn’t serve within the Chinese language Individuals’s Liberation Army Air Drive and is produced in China solely for export.
The JF-17 Block III has gained thought-about curiosity from various potential purchasers, most notably the Bangladesh Air Drive the place it might succeed older Chinese language-supplied J-7 fighters in service. The fighter is taken into account an in depth counterpart to the Swedish-American Gripen E/F light-weight fighter, which has equally been marketed for its mixture of leading edge avionics and really low operational prices and upkeep wants, whereas affected by most of the identical efficiency limitations. The current fight successes of the J-10C, nonetheless, and the clearly a lot greater standing allotted to the J-10 inside the Pakistan Air Drive, raises the likelihood that purchasers contemplating each plane will probably be extra inclined in direction of the heavier and extra succesful mannequin over the lighter one.
