The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) are renewing their efforts to secure additional customers for the JF-17 Thunder lightweight multi-role fighter, which is co-produced by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and PAC, and is the mainstay combat aircraft of the PAF.
These efforts follow deliveries of the JF-17 to Myanmar, which had reportedly ordered 16 aircraft in 2015, and Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) greenlighting a $184 million sale of three aircraft to Nigeria in late 2018 (Nigeria earmarked a $35 million installment for the order in its 2018 budget).
Currently, Malaysia and Azerbaijan appear to be the PAF and PAC’s top priorities for securing sales – both countries are high-value prospects. With at least 100 JF-17s inducted into the PAF fleet and, following the February 2019 air skirmish with India, the PAF seemingly accrediting the MiG-21bis kill to the Thunder (via Air Forces Monthly), a big-ticket sale to a third-party would drive significant momentum.
Malaysia
On March 22, the Pakistani Minister of Finance, Asad Umar, reportedly told local media that Malaysia had shown interest in purchasing the JF-17 alongside anti-tank missiles from Pakistan.
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