greyjf-17

Role Multirole fighter

Manufacturer Chengdu Aircraft Industry Corporation

Pakistan Aeronautical Complex

First flight 25 August 2003

Introduced 12 March 2007

Status Serial production beginning / In active service with Pakistan

Primary user Pakistan Air Force

Produced In China: June 2007–

In Pakistan: January 2008–

Number built 4 prototypes

10 delivered



Unit cost US$15-20 million (estimated











Specifications (JF-17 Thunder/FC-1 Fierce Dragon)

General characteristics



Crew: 1 (2 for proposed twin-seater)

Length: 14.0 m[32] (49 feet)

Wingspan: 9.45 m[32] (31 ft)

Height: 4.77 m (15 ft 8 in)

Wing area: 24.4 m²[32] (263 ft²)

Empty weight: 6,450 kg[32] (14,200 lb)

Loaded weight: 9,100 kg[33] including 2× wing-tip mounted air-to-air missiles (20,062 lb)

Max takeoff weight: 12,700 kg[33] (28,000 lb)

Powerplant: 1× Klimov RD-93 or WS-13 TianShan turbofan

Dry thrust: 51.2 kN (with WS-13 engine) (11,240 lbf)

Thrust with afterburner: 86.37 kN (with WS-13 engine) [4][5][33] (18,300 lbf)

G-limit: +8.5 g[12]

Fuel Capacity: 2300kg (5,130 lb) [34]

Performance



Maximum speed: Mach 1.6~1.8 [35]

Combat radius: 1,352 km (890 nmi, 1,025 mi)

Ferry range: 3,500km [6][7][36] (2,100 mi)

Service ceiling 18,000 m [8][9][37] (59,055 ft)

Thrust/weight: 0.95 [10]

Armament





Guns: 1× 23mm internal GSh-23-2 twin-barrel cannon (can be replaced with 30mm GSh-30-2 twin-barrel cannon)

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: 57mm/90mm unguided rocket pods [38]

Missiles:



Air-to-air missiles: PL-9C, PL-12/SD-10, A-darter

Air-to-surface missiles: anti-radiation missiles, anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles, etc.

Bombs:



Precision guided munitions, glide bombs, unguided bombs, etc

Others:

Up to 3 drop tanks (1× under-fuselage 800 litres, 2× under-wing 800/1100 litres each) for ferry flight or extended range/loitering time

Externally mounted avionics pods for Electronic Warfare, Electronic Counter-Measures, FLIR and Targeting:

Blue Sky navigation/attack pod

BM/KG300G self-protection jamming (ECM) pod

KZ900 electronic reconnaissance (SIGINT) pod

Avionics

KLJ-7 Radar













[edit] Confirmed Operators

Pakistan

Pakistan Air Force - The only current user of the JF-17, with 10 small batch production aircraft delivered, 150 currently ordered and a total of 250 expected. [24]

According to Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmad, the first JF-17 squadron will be inducted into the PAF fleet in the first quarter of 2009. [31]





[edit] Potential Operators

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan Air Force

China

People's Liberation Army Air Force - Under evaluation

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Air Force





The first prototype was rolled out on 31 May 2003, conducted its first taxi trials on 1 July and made its first flight on 25 August of the same year. The third prototype, PT-03, made its first flight in April 2004. It is believed that at some point during these initial test flights, the name Super-7 was replaced by the Chinese designation FC-1 (Fighter China-1) and the Pakistani designation JF-17 (Joint Fighter-17).

The PT-04 prototype of JF-17 successfully completed its first operational flight in Chengdu, China, on Wednesday 10 March 2006.[8] On 28 April 2006, PT-04 made its first flight with fully operational avionics. This prototype of JF-17 is configured as a multi-role fighter-bomber, equipped with advanced avionics and capable of carrying multiple air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons. Pakistan received the first consignment of 2 aircraft on 23 March 2007. China was supposed to start official production in June 2007 while Pakistan Aeronautical Complex was planning to start manufacturing the JF-17 in 2008.