Pakistan’s JF-17 Has One Best Advantage Over Stealth F-35

Not all nations have huge budgets, but Pakistan manages to build its JF-17 Thunder as an alternative for countries that cannot afford an F-35. These affordable fighters offer good price points for a modern 4th generation model that is multi-role as well.

Building of the JF-17 Thunder has been possible with Chinese technical help, as Pakistani forces face the need for more weapons such as strike craft. Despite the assistance from its pal China, they added more to the plane like more advanced features. Improvement was built into the models block II and block III. Pakistanis tout that it has a better advantage for buyers, reported Defence News.

Why spend for a single fighter that costs too much when the home-grown plane will cost 15 million per airplane, as the base model. They even used planes of more expensive models that will cost more that Myanmar got the Block II JF-17s for 16 million over the Block 1 model. Spending for that much gives the Thunder exporting success. Less wealthy nations can afford fighters too.

The multi-role fighter is a best seller amongst aerospace exports from many countries. It might be interesting to note that the American Grumman firm was part of its prior development. It is notable for its overall design.

The overall design is from the MiG-21 and legendary F-16 airframe which are some of the most agile fighters made. The Pak Plane has upgraded their blocks into levels that approximate the older F-16.

Also read: US & Israeli F-35s Become SAM Killers After UAE-Israel Deal Formed From Iran's Threats

Having an older airframe which can limit its overall performance, the engineers find a way to minimize the vices of a plane based on an older design.

Designers of the plane derived it from more than one project over its development. The final output is a better plane for the Pakistani Air Forces Chinese made Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) J-7 fighters. Otherwise, the PAF did not have 100% trust in the J-7 based on a Chinese design.

During the Soviet-Afghan war, Pakistan gave aid to U.S. efforts in the war. As such, the U.S. gave concessions to the PAF in their defense endeavors.

Soviets were fielding their MiG-29s as the newest planes to see combat over the skies of Afghanistan. PAF designers knew that they needed an equally agile fighter to match it.

Project Sabre II came in two phases that involved Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) and Grumman. They tried to mold the design after the MiG-29, but it did not pan out well. Intentions to match the Mig-29 was a total failure.

In the Super-7 project, modeled after the Fighting Falcon, with changes from the Sabre II, this collaboration headed in the right direction, but the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing shut down the project.

The Grumman Super 7 phase continued in 1989, both China and Pakistan spent equally on its design. This airplane called JF-17 is an F-16 derivative flying now.

It must be cited that the engine it used for the MiG-29 is the RD-33 on the Thunder. Other innovations were diverterless supersonic intakes (DSI), and completed in 2008.

At some point, China offered the WS-13 but the PAF opted for the RD-93 (Russian). The JF-17 is modernized and cheap, which is something it can compete with F-35.