Thanks for the fact loaded post with strong referances. So it appears like this. JF-17 is a Us influenced, Chinese designed aircraft that is noe exported to be Pakistan "build/assemble" basis. Much like our much touted car industry.
Ahh well at least we get to spray it and apply PAF decals ........
Not quite. While I have no idea of Pakistan's technological input in the JF-17, this aircraft was PAF's brainchild from the beginning, i.e. Project Sabre II. Pakistan realised the need of a relatively more homegrown solution and 'self reliance' way before the US sanctions. Credit where credit is due. We scouted for available platforms to build upon since a brand new platform design was in no way wise for us. The Chinese had all the rights to the earlier Mig-21 design and production and hence it was the obvious choice for us to base our initial attempt on and, as mentioned before, very wisely so. Enjoying good military relations with the US at the time we naturally enlisted their help in a venture in which both the Chinese and us were barely amateurs (something which was later emulated by the South Koreans and the Japanese, albeit with a lot more success). From the onset CAC and Pakistani specialists were involved in the project along with the Grumman design team, as per every report and all the articles I quoted before. At one time it was even planned to outsource critical technologies such as the engine and the radar from the US (this idea of western outsourcing of subsystems keeps resurfacing even today). Some reports at the time indicated that there were even proposals for the manufacturing to be divided between the three. However, the Tienanmen incident and Pakistan's withdrawal citing economic restrictions and, reportedly, political bs threw a spanner in the works. The project all but died while the idea and concept was kept alive on the Chinese drawing boards and in the hearts of PAF. After the US sanctions and the absence of further F-16 deliveries Pakistan tried to make do with the Mirage Rose Upgrades and F-7 purchases but it was obvious that they weren't going to be enough. With a change in government (as is the story with all our weapons procurement plans) the PAF found renewed support for reviving the project. Thus the Chinese were contacted again and the project started gaining momentum once more. While the project had remained stagnant, except on the drawing board, since the Pakistani and Grumman withdrawal, the requirements of PAF, the modern military aircraft technological standards and the Chinese and Pakistani expertise had not. By this time the project was named 'Super-7' (the name the Chinese had given to the Sabre II Project after Pakistan's withdrawal) and had already experienced design evolution from the SABRE II project, first under collaboration of the Chinese with Grumman and then by the Chinese alone. Yet again Pakistan became the party which was driving the project's vision and gave it impetus while relying on Chinese technological expertise (which had grown exponentially in the past years) supplemented by PAF's understanding of the modern Fighter Jet Concept. While the Chinese now did not require this project (owing to the J-10's development) they did still realise its export potential. The design of and requirements from the project evolved rapidly, so much so that the project went from a heavily modified Mig-21 design to a new aircraft based on the Mig-21 to a brand new aircraft design having its roots in previous designs that were based on the Mig-21 (except in the minds of our eastern friends). This is also when, befittingly, the name of the project was first changed from 'Super-7' to 'Super 7/FC-1' and then to 'JF-17/FC-1' denoting the massive departure from the original design and concept. The name 'Super-7' still persisted colloquially in the press and even with the people involved in the project up until 2003, e.g. Gao who was in charge of the project in 2003.
http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Jun/66954.htm
https://www.dawn.com/news/106435
and then this on a Pakistani government website in 2003 before the first prototype was revealed,
"Super Seven PAF's new multi-role combat aircraft that will soon take to the air. The aircraft currently under development in a joint Sino-Pakistan programme."
http://www.paf.gov.pk/super7.html
The JF-17 today is a completely different aircraft from what its 'grandfather projects' were first envisioned to be and it continues to change and evolve driven by PAF's vision and needs. It is not even the aircraft that was first named the JF-17 and in a few more years it wont even be the aircraft that was first put into production.
So no, I disagree. The JF-17 is by no means a paint job. It was in fact envisioned, driven and run by Pakistan as much as by China, if not more. In my view, it is a story, brimming with romanticism, of the underdog overcoming the impossible out of nowhere, typically Pakistani.
The irony is that while our Indian friends are hell bent on downplaying our efforts, achievements and involvement in the project to zero, our own people are hell bent on denying Pakistan the sheer ingenious with which we approached and achieved this project, all because being grandfathered by projects based on the Mig-21 somehow not only, inexplicably, hurts their insecure egos but also lessens the JF-17's capabilities. I mean the guy in charge of the project and the Pakistani government were calling it Super-7 up until 2003. Nothing of what I've said is new, all this used to be widely known, accepted and acknowledged on this very forum but now we have different people with different agendas posting here. Every single one of them, apparently, a stronger authority on the matter than the one before. We've already destroyed our official historical narrative because of our insecure egos, why not another feather in the cap?
