BEIJING: China will deliver 50 JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft to Pakistan over the next three years, a top Chinese official has said.
Li Pei, former head of the aircraft project under the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, described the JF-17 as a major achievement in cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad in the defence sector.
China’s Chengdu Aircraft will produce 50 jets for Pakistan over the next three years, Li told the state-run People’s Daily.
Pakistan has already received 60 jets from China since 2007. Ten of them were used by a test and evaluation unit of the Pakistan Air Force while 50 jets were assigned to two combat squadrons. Under the contract signed by the two countries, Pakistan will receive a total of 110 JF-17 jets.
The JF-17 was jointly developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex. Recently, eight JF-17 jets of the PAF escorted President Xi Jinping’s aircraft when it entered Pakistani airspace before his arrival in Islamabad on April 20.
China will deliver fifty more JF-17 Thunder fighters to Pakistan over the next three years.
China to deliver 50 JF-17 jets to Pakistan
