Milestone achieved: Facts and figures of newly rolled out Pak-made JF-17 aircraft

Photo courtesy www.dawn.com

“We will start production of this aircraft from 30th of this month and Inshallah 1st Made in Pakistan JF-17 aircraft will fly in Pakistan’s airspace by end of this year.”

These were the words uttered by Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman while addressing the Graduation Ceremony of No 38 Combat Commanders’ Course which was held at Pakistan Air Force Base, Mushaf (Sargodha) on June 28, 2009.

By the Grace of Allah Almighty, today Pakistan formally joined the international community of fighter aircraft manufacturers as JF- 17 Thunder, the first ever multi-role state of the art fighter jet, rolled out of Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra and was included to the fleet of Pakistan Air Force, Dawn News reported.

Speaking at the rollout ceremony, Pakistani Prime Minister SyedYusuf Raza Gilani said that this will kick start a new era in Pakistan-China relationship and Pakistan’s aviation industry. Representatives from the Chinese embassy, the Chinese companies involved in the project, the Pakistani three services and federal ministries were present at a ceremony held at the PAC in Kamra.

Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman thanked the Chinese government for extending support in designing a fighter aircraft to meet Pakistan’s specific needs besides helping in setting up aircraft production facilities in the country.

Speaking at the ceremony, Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui said that the JF-17 project is a milestone in cooperation between the armed forces of China and Pakistan.

JF-17 air craft is a low cost state of art jet fighter with latest BVR. JF-17 will replace A-5 and old Mirage aircraft. This new state of art aircraft with Swedish technology is almost equivalent to F-16 C and D models. JF-17 aircraft is is also capable of air to air refueling and will be produced in 3 models

• Close air combat
• Ground assault
• Long range combat

Before the induction of JF-17 aircraft, 20 countries already signed with PAC Kamra for the supply of this latest aircraft. Pakistan will also supply these aircraft to Bangladesh, Srilanka and Iran as well.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 14.0 m (45.9 ft)
• Wingspan: 9.45 m (including 2 wingtip missiles)  (31 ft)
• Height: 4.77 m (15 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 24.4 m² (263 ft²)
• Empty weight: 6,411 kg (14,134 lb)
• Loaded weight: 9,100 kg including 2× wing-tip mounted air-to-air missiles ^[7][93] (20,062 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 12,700 kg (28,000 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Klimov RD-93 turbofan
  • Dry thrust: 49.4 kN  (11,106 lbf)
  • Thrust with afterburner: 84.4 kN  (18,973 lbf)
• G-limit: +8.5 g
• Internal Fuel Capacity: 2300 kg (5,130 lb)

Performance

• Maximum speed: Mach 1.8  (1,191 knots, 2,205 kph)
• Combat radius: 1,352 km (840 mi)
• Ferry range: 3,000 km  (2,175 mi)
• Service ceiling: 16,700 m (54,790 ft)
• Thrust/weight: 0.99

Armament

• Guns: 1× 23 mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel cannon (can be replaced with 30 mm GSh-30-2)
• Hardpoints: 7 in total (4× under-wing, 2× wing-tip, 1× under-fuselage) with a capacity of 3,629 kg (8,000 lb) external fuel and ordnance,
• Rockets: 57 mm, 90 mm unguided rocket pods
• Missiles:
  • Air-to-air missiles:
    • Short range: AIM-9L/M, PL-5E, PL-9C
    • Beyond visual range: PL-12 / SD-10
  • Air-to-surface missiles:
    • Anti-radiation missiles
    • Anti-ship missiles: AM-39 Exocet
    • Cruise missiles: Ra’ad ALCM
• Bombs:
  • Unguided bombs:
    • Mk-82, Mk-84 general purpose bombs
    • Matra Durandal anti-runway bomb
    • CBU-100/Mk-20 Rockeye anti-armour cluster bomb
  • Precision guided munitions (PGM):
    • GBU-10, GBU-12, LT-2 laser-guided bombs
    • H-2, H-4 electro-optically guided, LS-6 satellite-guided glide bombs
    • Satellite-guided bombs
• Others:
  • Up to 3 external fuel drop-tanks (1× under-fuselage 800 litres, 2× under-wing 800/1100 litres each) for extended range/loitering time

Avionics

• NRIET KLJ-7 multi-mode fire-control radar
• NVG compatible glass cockpit
• Helmet Mounted Sights/Display (HMS/D)
• Infra-Red Search and Track (IRST)
• Externally mounted avionics pods:
  • Self-protection radar jammer pod
  • Day/night laser designator targeting pod
  • Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) pod

Potential customers

The Azerbaijani Air Force has negotiated with Pakistan for the purchase of 26 JF-17, worth between 16 and 18 million dollars each. The Sudanese Air Force is also reported to be negotiating for 12 aircraft. The Zimbabwe Air Force reportedly ordered 12 JF-17 in 2004, but there are no current sources that confirm payment or intent of delivery. Several other countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran and Nigeria have been identified as potential buyers.

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