Guy D. McCardle
China’s bargain bin JF-17 is less about dogfights than deals, binding cash strapped air forces to Beijing with cut rate firepower, easy credit, and long term political leverage.A Pakistan Air Force JF-17 Thunder cuts across clear blue sky, the export fighter at the center of Islamabad and Beijing’s growing global pitch. Image Credit: Simple Flying
In Dubai this month, while India’s Tejas fighter cartwheeled into the sand in front of cameras and would-be buyers, Pakistan quietly walked into the chalet row and walked out with a new export memorandum of understanding for the JF-17 Block III fighter jet. The announcement came from Islamabad’s Inter-Services Public Relations and named the customer only as a “friendly nation,” but it marks the latest win for a jet China helped design, build, and market as an export workhorse for the developing world.
The numbers from earlier this year show why that matters. Azerbaijan has already signed a contract for 40 JF-17 Block III fighters at around 4.6 billion dollars, tied to a broader package worth billions more, making Baku the largest foreign operator and giving Pakistan its biggest defense export in history. Iraq has inked its own deal for a dozen aircraft, while Myanmar and Nigeria formed the first export club for the type.
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