Azerbaijan mulls purchase of Pakistani-Chinese jet fighter
Tue 15 November 2011 07:55 GMT | 12:55 Local Time
Azerbaijan is showing interest in purchasing the JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft, jointly produced by Pakistan and China, the Pakistani side has said.
The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), a co-producer of the fighter, told APA of the interest from Baku at the Dubai Airshow-2011.
Members of the Azerbaijani delegation watched the JF-17's demonstration flights at the airshow, the PAC officials said.
They said that several rounds of discussions had been held with the Azerbaijani side, but that talks had yet to reach the purchase and sale stage.
They said that the initial size of the order had been determined, however.
PAC is meeting orders from Pakistan’s Air Forces at present and would be able to meet an Azerbaijani order in the next few years.
The JF-17 Thunder has the same or better specifications than the Russian-made MiG-29s that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces have at present.
Company officials said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoyed a high level of relations. Islamabad supports Baku’s positions and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and has rendered military assistance to Azerbaijan since the very beginning. Taking these relations into consideration, there will be no problems in the sale of aircraft to Azerbaijan, the officials said.
A second version of the JF-17 Thunder is under development and will have the latest electronic systems and additional weapons. A two-pilot model is also under development.
The JF-17 Thunder is 14.97 m long, has a maximum takeoff weight of 12,474 kg, maximum speed of 1,909 km/h and combat radius of 1,352 km.
Its munitions include one 23-mm GSh-23-2 twin-barrel cannon, four air-to-air missiles, one air-to-surface missile, Mk-82, Mk-84 general purpose bombs, GBU-10, GBU-12, LT-2 laser-guided bombs, the Matra Durandal anti-runway bomb and the CBU-100/Mk-20 Rockeye anti-armour cluster bomb.
APA
News.Az - Azerbaijan mulls purchase of Pakistani-Chinese jet fighter
