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| JF-17 Thunder Block III: PAF's Scramble to New Horizons |
Export Deal between Pakistan and Argentina
One of the big news about Pakistan's defense industry this week is that
there has been significant progress in the sale of JF-17 Thunder Block-III fighter
jets between Pakistan and Argentina. According to reports, Argentina is likely to buy
12 fighter aircrafts from Pakistan. Argentina has also allocated 664 million US dollars ($664 million) for the purchase of the said aircraft in its draft budget
for the next fiscal year 2022 presented to the National Parliament.
International Reactions
Confronting countries are
naturally concerned about such deals. So, India’s concerns and its reaction
through its media are exactly as expected. Such reaction has no significance,
and since we are accustomed to this type of reaction, that is why there is no
need to comment on it.
At the same time, the countries
whose interests are at stake because of this type of deal or they conflict with
them also bother about it. In the same context, this defense deal between
Pakistan and Argentina is being linked with India as well as the United
Kingdom, as there is a dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over
the Falkland Islands, which has strained relations between the two countries. Therefore,
any deal made with Argentina is indirectly against Britain's interests.
Here, Pakistan's difficulty is further increased when Pakistan's stance in this dispute is more favorable and closer to that of Argentina than that of the United Kingdom. Therefore, Pakistan may have to bear the brunt of it globally.
JF-17 Thunder: Block-I, Block-II, and Block-III
The JF-17 Thunder is a multi-role fighter aircraft. It is jointly manufactured by the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) of Pakistan, and Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China. The prefix of “JF” is an abbreviation of the phrase “Joint Fighter”, as it is a joint venture of Pakistan and China. The medium numeric "17" was chosen because it has capabilities that are similar rather superior to F-16 Falcon and closer to F-18 Super Hornet. So, it was allocated the number "17". While the suffix “Thunder” reflects its identical hallmark name which indicates its horror show by which it roars like a thunder and strikes the opponent as fast as a lightning thunder-strike and burns it to ashes.
This aircraft is built upon a block-building approach. It initiated its production series with Block-I, followed by Block-II, and recently its latest version Block-III is on the way.
It is very much similar to Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Falcon fighter jet, and its Block-III is more advanced than its US counterpart F-16 Falcon. The JF-17 Thunder is available in single and dual-seater variants. It is lightweight, all-weather, day/night, air-to-air and air-to-surface combat capable, long-range firing power with beyond visual range (BVR) missiles Chinese made PL-15 and Pakistani made Raad, multi-purpose including interception, anti-ships, ground attack, and dog-fight, computerized flight controls, and state-of-the-art avionics and latest radar system.
JF-17 Thunder: Historical Background
Pakistan Air Force was majorly relying
on the American fighter jets F-16 Falcons and the French Dassault Mirage
aircraft. But the US government sanctioned Pakistan in 1990 under Pressler
Amendment to restrict Pakistan’s nuclear program. Under the said amendment, the
United States canceled a defense deal to sell several multi-role F-16 fighter
jets to Pakistan. Pakistan had already paid the price of these fighter jets
worth six hundred fifty-eight million US dollars (658 million USD), to the United
States manufacturing company Lockheed Martin. Also, given the nature of
bilateral relations between Pakistan and France, the acquisition of more
Dassault Mirage aircraft from France seemed almost impossible. In this
situation, there was a fear of the Pakistan Air Force being grounded. So,
Pakistan embarked on a joint venture with China to build its own fighter jet,
which eventually led to the production of the JF-17 Thunder.
Potential Market of JF-17 Thunder
More than 150 JF-17 Thunder jets with full operational strength and
capabilities are inducted into the six
squadrons of the Pakistan Air Force.
The Pakistan Air Force has
successfully demonstrated its practical capabilities by using these fighter
jets on the battlefield. The JF-17 Thunder demonstrated its best and undefeated combat
performance in Operation Swift Retort against India on February 27, 2019. In
this conflict, JF-17 Thunder shot down two confronting Indian fighter jets. These two jets
were Russian-made, the MiG-21, and the Sukhoi Su-30. The MiG-21 is an ordinary
classic aircraft, while the Sukhoi Su-30 is an excellent fighter jet of modern
times. By shooting down these two jets, the JF-17 Thunder proved its efficiency
and effectiveness to the world. It was recognized and honored by defense
experts around the world.
Two dozen JF-17 Thunder fighter jets are operating in the Myanmar air force.
Nigeria has also purchased and inducted three JF-17 Thunder jets in its air force.
Malaysia is also interested in purchasing the latest version of JF-17, Block
III, and is considering it with South Korea’s FA-50 Golden Eagle fighter jet. It
is expected that Malaysia will prefer the Pakistani aircraft over South Korean one.
Iraq is also considering buying 12 JF-17 Thunder fighter jets from
Pakistan. The top Iraqi defense delegation headed by Gen. Mehdi is on an official
visit to Pakistan in this regard. An official agreement is likely to be signed
by both countries in the next months. The Iraqi government has approved 664 million US dollars ($664 million) for the payment of this
deal.
Apart from the above-mentioned countries, if we look at the features of JF-17 Thunder, it becomes clear that due its cost-effectiveness and affordability, it can find and excellent market to meet the strategic and tactical defense needs of developing and low-cost seeking countries.
The Divine Guidance is the True Inspiration
On such occasions of progress and achievement, people usually use this
proverb that the sky is the limit. But in my opinion, this proverb is a
reflection of narrow-mindedness. My conscience inspires me that even the sky
should not be the limit, because in my perception there must be no limit to progress and advancement. Rather, we have to strive far
away beyond the worlds, beyond the heavens, and beyond the perception. And, after making
all possible efforts, leave the ultimate result to Allah Almighty. Before
leaving the matter to Allah Almighty, we ought to comply with His divine
commands and instructions.
Therefore, when we seek the divine guidance about the defense matters, we find that the Lord of the heavens and all creation, the Creator of the whole universe, the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing, the Absolutely Wise, the Eternally Powerful, the Source of all power and strength, the only one God, Allah Almighty orders us in a verse of the Holy Quran:
Prepare against them whatever force you can, and the trained horses whereby you frighten Allah’s enemy and your enemy and others besides them whom you do not know. Allah knows them. (Al-Anfal: 8 / 60). (Translation is quoted from: The Meanings of The Noble Quran).
Therefore, if in compliance with this command of Allah Almighty, Pakistan
has achieved the goal of becoming self-sufficient in its defense industry and
taking it one step further by reaching the milestone of including it in its exports, then it is highly congratulated and appreciated.
Now our eyes are on the next milestone, the self-made stealth fighter jet,
which is being developed under the
project Azm. Work on this project has begun, and in the next few years, we will
build our fifth-generation stealth fighter
jet, Insha'Allah.
Sincere prayers, best wishes, humble gratitude, and ultimate honor with
hopeful expectations.
