Monthly Report: The JF-17 in 2017 and Outlook for 2018 Plus

Quwa Premium’s Monthly Report for February 2018 provides a detailed overview of the leading events affecting the development of the Pakistan Air Force’s (PAF) JF-17 Thunder multi-role fighter program. It starts with discussing the factors that led to the development of the JF-17, providing context of the PAF’s rationale and interests in its decision-making. This is joined by an outline of pertinent JF-17-related events in 2017, such as the raising of the No. 14 Squadron, maiden test-flight of the JF-17B, deliveries of Aselsan ASELPOD targeting pods and others. Context is provided (using open-source references) in regards to the PAF’s subsystem, weapon and powerplant selections, which had all steered the JF-17 to its current form. This report concludes with an outlook of the JF-17 program in 2018 along with an overview of potential interests for the industry in regards to the forthcoming JF-17 Block-III.

Background on the JF-17

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) embarked on the process of domestically manufacturing a multi-role fighter in the aftermath of recurring sanctions, most notably by the US through the Pressler Amendments, which resulted on a hold of 28 F-16A/B Block-15 OCU (Operational Capability Upgrade) fighters ordered and paid for by Pakistan. However, through the 1990s it was also apparent that there was a paucity of affordable fighters that could be procured in relatively sizable numbers, i.e. to supplant the PAF’s aging Shenyang F-6s. The Peace Gate III/IV F-16s (i.e. 71 in total) were supposed to assume that task, but Pressler firmly put an end to that prospect, and the alternatives – i.e. the Mirage 2000 and JAS-39A/B Gripen – were either too costly or simply untenable due to political challenges.

Interestingly, Pakistan had toyed with the idea of domestically manufacturing a fighter much earlier than taking on the JF-17. In 1949, an advisor to the Pakistani Ministry of Defence – Mir Laiq Ali – had apparently begun negotiations with Lockheed Martin to supply – along with assembly and eventually manufacturing – F-80 fighters to Pakistan.[1] However, this effort was scuttled amid pressure from Britain on the Pakistani government, resulting in the transfer of 36 Supermarine Attackers to the then Royal Pakistan Air Force.[2] In 1987, the PAF awarded Northrop Grumman and the Chengdu Aerospace Corporation (CAC) a contract to study a significant upgrade of CAC’s F-7 involving a solid nose, side-intakes, the General Electric (GE) F-404 turbofan engine and modern Western radar and avionics.[3] However, US sanctions on China following the Tiananmen Square incident along with mounting costs shelved that program (Sabre II).

In 1992, CAC offered the PAF an opportunity to support a clean-sheet design, which the PAF accepted in 1994, resulting in a memorandum-of-understanding (MoU) being signed in 1995.[4] The design of the fighter was frozen in 1996, with a co-development contract being signed in 1999.[5] Russia’s Mikoyan was also contracted by CAC to provide consultation support, while Klimov was sought to supply its RD-93 turbofan engine. Furthermore, a workshare production contract was signed which would see Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) manufacture 58% of the fighter, particularly the airframe.[6]