On January 15, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) announced through a press video that it will invite a technical team from the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) in the near future to evaluate the JF-17C Thunder Block-3.
The announcement came following a visit by a Bangladeshi military delegation led by Lt. Gen. S.M Kamrul Hassan, the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division.
The invitation signifies a step in the apparent thaw in defence ties between the two countries after the fall of the government of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. According to the PAF’s press release, the delegation expressed interest in Pakistan’s locally produced solutions, including the JF-17 Thunder.
However, Pakistan’s security planners may have a more strategic play in motion as well, especially with a forthright and positive outreach to their counterparts in Bangladesh.
Ultimately, an advanced fighter program is as much a political engagement as it is a technical acquisition of military hardware. The PAF realized as much given the controversy marketing the JF-17 attracted when the fighter was promoted to Argentina and Sri Lanka in earlier years.
Therefore, a JF-17C sale to Bangladesh can lead to common training programs, technical interoperability between the BAF and PAF fleets, and, potentially, long-term personnel exchanges.
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