Is it me, or does the PAF seem more secretive about the JFT nowadays? One thing that illustrates this is the difference between the original JF-17's info, and the Block-II specs which are much harder to come by. Even @pshamim, a senior on this forum who actually served in the PAF for decades, talked about the unusual quietness around Block-II(though posted that the he's heard the cost is expected to rise 5-10mil USD, which indicates a high level of modernization/changes).
My guess is that China has something to do with this. The JF-17 was the most public/visible programme developing out of China, with an abundance of info about many sub-systems being made available online, due to Pakistan. Alot of western experts use the JFT programme to gauge China's aeronautics capabilities, which was something mentioned at Farnborrough as well(with the aircraft recieving alot of attention from western sources - some even went as far as saying the JFT "stole the show", based on how much interest it garnered).
Should be pretty exciting to hear how our little bird fared against the EFT. For decades, our engagement tactics involved evading BVR missiles and perfecting WVR engagement, a neccessity born out of Uncle Sam screwing with us while India gained the lead with long-range BVRs. One advantage from that, seems to be that WVR is something the PAF pilots are really good at.
I know the EFT's an entirely different class(medium-weight fighter), but being small and nimble has it's own advantages. It's manouverability is roughly at par with the F-16(perhaps marginally less in yaw due to hybrid hydraulic/FBW?), @nabil_05 mentioned how the JFT held it's own pretty well pitted against our F-16s, so I'm hoping Inshallah we hear some good news about the JFT's engagement with the Eurofighter. We did beat the EFT with F-16A/Bs in WVR(3-0 in three engagements).
good going PAF.
