Topic: Military
| Subject | PAKISTAN’S JF-17 GETS GREENLIGHT WITH RUSSIAN ENGINE |
| DateCreated | 11/23/2007 11:02:00 PM |
| PostedDate | 11/23/2007 10:21:00 PM |
| Body | The Chinese/Pakistani produced JF-17/FC-1 jet fighter was developed to meet Pakistan's air defense needs, while establishing a domestic capability to produce military aircraft. This was necessary for Pakistan due to a history of reliance on foreign arms (i.e. the U.S. made F-16), thus making the country vulnerable to arms embargoes. With a history of wars with her arch-rival India, Pakistan wanted to establish a domestic capability to guarantee the supply of quality arms. Consequently, in collaboration with China, the JF-17/FC-1 program was initiated and brought to fruition in 2007. The aircraft and its avionics are produced by China and Pakistan, but the engine is Russian. Herein lies the problem. India is a major arms customer for the Russians --as is China-- and India used this position to pressure the Russians into denying Chinese re-export of its RD-93 engine. This put the JF-17 program into limbo, as Chinese turbofan engine technology has not yet matured enough to produce a comparable engine. After facing mounting interest from other nations in the relatively inexpensive fighter ($20 million U.S.) Russia has finally given the go ahead for China to re-export the RD-93 engine. Pakistan has already approved purchase and co-production of the JF-17, with plans to induct between 150-300 aircraft. Other countries expected to purchase the 4th generation jet fighter are Algeria, Azerbaijan, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. Nations expressing interest include Iran, Burma, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. For ALL things military such as surplus, books, military polls, documentaries, battlefield tour packages, MIG jet flights and more CLICK HERE |
Posted by Steven Whitehurst
at 10:21 PM CST
Updated: Wednesday, 25 February 2015 3:42 PM CST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
Updated: Wednesday, 25 February 2015 3:42 PM CST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post